Chuck vs A Man Called Crescent
by Clamman
Summary: What if it wasn't Chuck who shot Shaw on the bridge?  What if it was someone else? Chapter 9 - Beginning of the End - Chuck is locked up in a Ring prison and the enemy has sinister plans for him. Will he ever escape or see Sarah again? Read to find out.
1. We'll Always Have Paris

**Chuck Versus a Man called Crescent**

This is my first story arc guys so be cool…..

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but I do own the characters I create. No-one steals Crescent from me, oh no no they don't.

**We'll Always have Paris**

Shaw hits Chuck in the face and lets him collapse on the ground, winded. 'Stay here,' the rogue CIA agents says. 'I don't want to hurt you. None of this is your fault. I haven't told them your secret. But if you follow me, I will kill you.' He drags the disorientated Sarah with him towards the bridge, leaving Chuck gasping for breath in the mess that was a café table. What Shaw forgets is that he has left a gun behind, and Chuck drags himself up, picking up the gun. I've got to go after them, he thinks, I love Sarah and I won't let that monster touch a hair on her beautiful head. With this new sense of determination he runs as fast as he can to the bridge.

As he pushes the drowsy Sarah to the side of the bridge, Shaw looks at her. He thinks how helpless she looks, and for a second he thinks of letting her go. But the face of his smiling wife Evelyn smashes these thoughts away, and his resolve is concrete; he will kill her to make her pay for destroying the one thing he loved so much. Suddenly he hears the click of a gun being cocked and turns to see the stubborn Chuck pointing it right at him.

'Put it down Shaw!' Chuck shouts out. _Please_, he thinks. _I don't want to kill you. It'll change me and I wouldn't be able to live with it hanging over my life._

Shaw laughs. 'Put the gun down Chuck. We both know you won't pull the trigger.'

'Please, it doesn't have to be like this...' Chuck responds. 'This isn't you, Shaw. You can't do this.' As he says this, he begins to lower his gun.

The rogue agent hesitates, and for a second, it looks like he is going to lower his gun as well. But Evelyn pops up in his mind and Shaw speaks out.

'No Chuck. I can. _You_ can't.' He raises his arm again and a shot rings out in the silent streets of Paris.

* * *

Chuck's life flashes before him. From the instant he found out Bryce had gotten him kicked out of Stanford, he sees all the moments in his life. He remembers the day Sarah came into his life, walking through the Buy More doors and straight to him. He had fallen in love with her then and there; she was so very beautiful and every time she smiled at him or laughed at one of his slightly mundane jokes just made him more crazy about her.

He then recalls a very recent memory. It was after he found out Shaw was going with Paris and taking Sarah with him, and started to drink himself out of his senses whilst playing Guitar Hero. Morgan, being the caring best friend that he was, had tried to stop him but instead fell victim to the Intersect 2.0's restraining flashes. He ended up being tied up by a variety of different game controllers, whilst the drunken agent continued to drink and to quote 'Pretty in Pink', albeit completely getting it wrong. Then Sarah walked in. She had a knack for catching him at awkward moments, and this was one of those moments. He was sitting in his underpants with the plastic Guitar Hero guitar, and after he asked the love of his life whether she actually had any feelings for him at all, he felt very vulnerable. But at the moment she finally admitted her love, Chuck wouldn't have given up his life for anyone else's.

* * *

The blonde agent's eyes flutter open and Sarah finds herself lying in a bed in a spacious hotel room. She looks around and sees Chuck, who immediately gets up and asks her how she is feeling. That is one trait that she finds most endearing in her boyfriend – he always looks after her no matter what, making him so unlike the other spies she has ever met. But then again none of them had a normal life before their jobs and ever had a supercomputer full of government secrets downloaded into their heads.

Sarah starts to talk, and out of the blue memories of the night before spring back into her mind. She looks at Chuck in a way the Nerd Herder cannot define.

'You shot Shaw.' she says, and the expression of her lover changes into a more uncomfortable one. 'You saved me.' Chuck looks as though he wants to say something but Sarah won't have it. 'Shut up and kiss me already.' she says, and the two of them jump at each other, crashing their lips together and pulling the covers over them. They share an intimate moment where all thoughts of the CSI, the NSA, and the Intersect disappear, leaving only the love they share for and their relief at the resolution to all the tension they had before.

Afterwards, Chuck goes out to get some food for the ravenous Sarah. Damn, he muses, those tranqs are too powerful. Someone should really to change what they put into those things.

As he strolls through the local French _marche_, past all the happy couples smiling and kissing, Chuck feels his phone vibrating in his pocket, and he fishes it out. _Unknown Caller? _he thinks as he hits the accept button.

'Hello Chuck.' says a British accented voice. 'Or do you prefer Agent Carmichael?'

'I don't know who you're talking about. My name isn't Chu-'

'You can't lie to me, Carmichael. I know all there is to know about you and your team. In fact, I would like to say how beautiful your little girlfriend is looking. This sniper scope doesn't do her any justice at all.'

Chuck's blood ran cold. 'If you touch one hair on her head, I assure you, whoever you are, there is no power on this earth that will stop me from hunting you down and making you pay.'

'There really is no need for all these threats, agent. I'm not going to hurt anybody, especially you. You're too important to my contractor.' responds the mysterious caller.

'Who do you work for?' questions Chuck. His confidence regaining, he continues. 'If you're working for the Ring, then forget about receiving your payment. We took them out yester-'

Laughing, the voice responds. 'Do you think I would ever take a contract from the most useless faction on the stage? Please. I'm a professional. No, I work for an organisation that, in fact, I think you already know about. I did my job for them last night already. Oh yes, and just a reminder: I don't like people taking credit for my kills.'

Chuck tries to ramble his way through, but the voice cuts him off. 'We both know what happened last night. I shot Shaw, not you.'

The line cuts just as Chuck opens his mouth. A message flashes on the screen of the iPhone. It says, _I'll talk to you soon._

**How did you like my take on Chuck vs. The Other Guy? How about the twist at the end? Is this mysterious man the one they call Crescent? Of course he is, but you'll have to read the next chapter to find out how he gets involved with Charah.**


	2. Every Cloud has a Silver Lining

**Chuck Versus a Man called Crescent**

This is my first story arc guys so be cool…..

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but I do own the characters I create. No-one steals Crescent from me, oh no no they don't.

* * *

**Every Cloud has a Silver Lining (Hopefully)**

The bright rays of the Californian morning stream through the windows and into a certain Chuck Bartowski's room. It is filled with things from all his hobbies: video games, comics, and sci-fi movies. The Tron poster which hangs from the wall is a testament to that.

As the sunlight reaches the bed, something stirs under the covers. The sleepy Nerd Herder pulls himself out of bed and into the bathroom, where he starts to undress for a morning shower which he desperately needs to wake himself up. Hearing a giggle behind him, he turns around, only to find his beautiful blonde agent/girlfriend standing naked in said shower.

'Oh – Ah – Um - ' Chuck stutters as he tries to make a reasonable explanation that won't make him sound like a pervert. Sarah just continues smiling – she finds Chuck adorable when he is flustered – and she drags him into the shower with her.

'Hey you.' she whispers. 'I enjoyed last night. Have I told you that you're a real Casanova?'

Chuck flashes his hundred watt smile. 'No, I don't think you have,' he replies, 'but it's all down to the Bartowski gene. We just can't help being charming.' After more uncharacteristically girlish giggles and a playful slap on the arm from Sarah, he continues. 'Anyways, I was wondering whether we could go out after breakfast to do something together, seeing that the General's not going to give us a mission today.'

All of a sudden, Chuck and Sarah's phones ring at the same time, causing both of them to scramble out as quickly as it is safe to whilst having wet feet on a slippery marble floor and answer the calls.

'This is an automated secure message from Castle Base,' says a monotone robotic female voice. 'Report in immediately for briefing with General Diane Beckman. Colonel Casey will also be present.'

'Well,' says Chuck, 'my plans were definitely a little short-lived.'

'Don't worry,' his mischievous looking girlfriend says. 'We still have a bit of time, and I think I can make up for us not going out later.'

* * *

Sitting in the secret base located under the Burbank branch of the Buy More, the Colonel grunts. Dissatisfaction. The moron and his girlfriend were late again. _Bartowski's probably finding another way of expressing his lady feelings, _Casey thought. _Gross._

The entrance door from the Orange Orange slides open, and Sarah, with her hair and top slightly askew, enters, followed by Chuck, who has once again got the goofy smile set on his face.

'What took you so long, numb nut?' Casey asks, and recognising the look on the moron's face and the appearance of his partner, he groans. 'On second thoughts, don't tell me. I'll have to drink an entire bottle of my best whisky to wash away the mental scarring you'll give me.' Sarah nearly grins, but composes herself. However, she does appreciate the fact that Casey has been so supportive of her relationship with Chuck, especially during the time of the 49B and one Agent Alexandra Forrest.

'Has the General called yet?' asks Chuck, feeling a nervous. He doesn't want to be on the receiving end of a tongue-lashing from their irate commanding officer.

'Surprisingly no,' replies Casey. 'For some reason, even she's running a little late today. Just because Shaw's dead and the Ring's collapsed doesn't mean there aren't more psychos who want to blow us up.'

'So positive Casey. You know, you should take a break some time,' says Chuck. 'I heard from Ellie that there's a massage parlor in the mall. You should go there, it'll help release all that pent up ang-'

Casey snorts. 'Bartowski, if you don't keep that mouth shut, I'll show you what I can do with my 'pent up anger.' The moron visibly shudders. 'Good. Now get yourselves sorted out before Beckman calls,' he grunts, looking pointedly at Sarah, who quickly combs her hair back into shape and pulls her top up.

The CIA emblem on the screen disappears and is replaced by the familiar office and face of General Diane Beckman.

'Good morning team,' she addresses them, 'I have a new mission for you. We've intercepted messages from the Ring prior to its collapse and learned that they were tracking a man called David Lawson. From what intel we have, this is a fake name – a cover for an independent solo operative called Crescent.'

The General's expression changes into one of curiosity when she sees the telltale signs of a flash on Chuck's face. She never admits it, but she doesn't regret the fact that the Intersect was put into its current bumbling host instead of a heartless robotic agent.

'General, I just flashed on Crescent, and he is wa-a-a-ay too dangerous.' stutters Chuck. 'I hate to say it, but he's got more kills than Casey here.' Seeing the skeptical face of the Colonel, he continues. 'Casey, you may be the Angel de la Muerte, but compared to him, you're like… the Mosquito de Molestia.'

A flash of anger passes over Casey's face and he starts to get up, but the General interrupts him.

'We don't have time for this. We have a positive lock on his current position. He's attending an unveiling of a portrait of Sir Thomas More, which is on loan from the Frick Collection in New York, but we think that this event is actually a ruse – Crescent is exchanging vital intel on a very delicate subject – you, Chuck, the human Intersect.'

* * *

The blonde CIA agent is getting dressed in her hotelroom when she hears a knock on the door. After she finishes putting on the gorgeous dress she chose, she walks to the door, thinking about the utterly amazed look on her boyfriend's face when she opens the door. However, instead of the lanky brown curled man she loves, Sarah sees his sister – Eleanor Faye Woodcomb.

'Hey Sarah,' Ellie says. 'You look fantastic! Are you going somewhere special with Chuck?'

'Um…. Yeah, we're going to the unveiling at the arts gallery downtown. I've been bugging Chuck for the last week to go there with me,' replies Sarah, making up a quick cover story. _Well, _she thinks, _at least this time it's half true._

'Wow! I never pegged you for an art person,' Ellie replies enthusiastically. 'Devon and I are going too; maybe we could have lunch together afterwards?'

Sarah froze, but quickly shook it off. 'Sure, Ellie. How about that Chinese place Chuck took me to a while back? The dumplings are delicious.' The smiling Bartowski agrees and then goes back down to the lobby to tell her husband the plans. Sarah could almost hear a loud 'AWESOME!' echoing off the walls.

The agent in her quickly takes hold, and she grabs her iPhone, starting a conference call with Chuck and Casey.

'What is it, Walker?' grunts Casey over the phone. 'You've kinda caught me at a bad time. I don't like people disturbing me whilst I polish my guns.'

'Casey, I find _that_ disturbing.' replies Chuck. 'What's the problem, Sarah? Is something wrong?'

'Yes,' says Sarah, 'Ellie and Awesome are going to the gallery as well.'

* * *

_Beckman sighs. Another problem._

'_Chuck, there is no chance we will be able to find Crescent again. This opportunity won't present itself again!'_

'_I understand that, General, but this mission is too dangerous! Awes-, I mean Devon, already knows that I am a spy, and look where that got him! He nearly got his head blown up by and explosive earpiece! I don't want to put Ellie in a similar situation!'_

'_Agent Bartowski, this discussion is over! You will go to the unveiling, locate Crescent and bring him and his intel back using whatever methods necessary, even if your sister is present! Just find a way to avoid her!'_

_And with that, the screen goes back to the image of the CIA emblem._

'I mean, how can she be so uncaring?' complains Chuck, sitting in the passenger seat of Sarah's Porsche. 'I don't understand how she could just tell me to put the lives of Ellie and Awesome in danger. Frankly, they don't need to have to spend every second of their lives being chased by some bad guys hell bent on world domination and having guns pointed at their heads every so often.'

'Look,' his girlfriend responds, 'the General actually trying to look out for you. If Crescent hands over that intel on the Intersect, all sorts of people are going to come after you, and then your sister and brother-in-law will be in even more danger. Anyways, I promise that we'll keep an eye on them.'

'That's right, moron.' Chuck can hear Casey clearly over the earpiece. 'I won't let them out of my sights, so quit your yapping and get your head into the mission. Remember, one wrong move and this guy could kill you.'

'Thanks for the reassurance, Casey, but I think I'll stick to being nervous and apprehensive until this whole thing blows over.'

**So, how d'you like Chapter 2? Things are getting rolling now, so hold onto your hats! Chapter 3 will contain a lot more action, so please keep reading!**

**PS I've read the reviews so far, and most of you are saying that having Sarah/Crescent is a bad idea. I'll concede at that point, so I'll make Crescent into something that just makes Sarah feel woozy and Chuck jealous.**


	3. Troubled Waters

**Chuck Versus a Man called Crescent**

This is my first story arc guys so be cool…..

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but I do own the characters I create. No-one steals Crescent from me, oh no no they don't.

* * *

**Troubled Waters**

Chuck feels ill. Not only may his sister find out that he is a spy with about a million people who want to kill him, but he may be killed by the scariest man alive – the one called Crescent. Earlier in Castle, when he had flashed, Chuck had seen all of his 'contracts'. One in Sierra Leone, where the mysterious man had killed a warlord and eliminated his entire command in under half an hour; one in China, where he had infiltrated a triad, transferred all the money from its different bank accounts into his own untraceable one and walked away without them touching a hair on his head; one in Cuba, one in Africa, the list went on.

The Porsche pulled up in and stopped in a side alley close to a gallery, and Casey screeched to a halt behind them in the van.

"Why are we stopping here?" complains Chuck. "Out of all the places which we could park, we have to park here, in-" His foot lands a puddle of what looks suspiciously like vomit, and his face turns green.

"This is the best spot to make our escape in case things get hairy, moron," barks Casey through the earpiece. "And now, if you don't mind switching off your wussy nerdy side, we have an international criminal to catch."

Looking offended, Chuck attempts to wipe the gloop of his shoe, finishes and takes Sarah's hand, walking to the grand entrance, where a large number of guests are already gathering. He spots the ever-enthusiastic Ellie and Devon and starts to panic again.

"Sarah, I know what the General said about getting that intel with any methods necessary, but how are we supposed to do that with Ellie and Awesome on our backs?" Chuck asks.

The blonde CIA agent pats her boyfriend on the arm. "Don't worry, sweetie," she says reassuringly, "there's so many people here they probably won't be able to find us, and if they do, you can distract them whilst Casey and I deal with Crescent."

Chuck looks a little better and confident, and with that, they stroll past the splendid doorway and into a date with destiny in the form of a man called Crescent.

* * *

Casey looks at the schematics for the gallery building, scanning it for any other possible hidden spots and exits. _Damn,_ he thinks, _I should be out there kicking some assassin ass. This is no way for a guy like me to spend an afternoon._ Sipping his black and bitter coffee, he continues looking, until an alarm starts flashing on one of the screens. The Colonel grins and contacts Chuck and Sarah.

"Listen up, moron, just picked up something from the back entrance," grunts Casey. "Keep your eyes out for any late arrivals entering the gallery and see if you can identify Crescent."

Just as Casey says this, Chuck hears his name being called out, and turns to find his brother-in-law, Devon Woodcomb MD, standing in front of him, and he does _not_ look happy.

"Chuck," Devon asks, "Are you on a mission right now?"

"Of course not Awesome!" bumbles Chuck, signaling madly with his hands for Sarah to say something. "I'm just here to enjoy the wonderful paintings!"

"Then why did you sign in as Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael? That's your spy alias, isn't it?" questions Devon. "This spy business is so frickin' dangerous and you brought it here with you?"

"Um, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. You see, normally when I go out I use my alias so I don't draw attention to the actual me and you guys. Isn't that right, Sarah darling?"

"Yes, Devon, there's no need to worry," the blonde says. "We are here purely on a social basis; I mean, who here would actually be an international criminal?"

Devon, looking unconvinced, points at one man standing in an extremely conspicuous area – right in the middle of the crowd. He's tall, around six foot four, and is well built. His facial features seem Chinese, but this is contrasted with his chestnut brown hair. He looks normal, but tucked under his belt is the unmistakable shape of a gun. Chuck turns and flashes, his eyes fluttering as the huge amount of information reveals itself. For a second, Chuck stands there stunned, but turns around with somewhat of a forced smile on his face.

"No Awesome," says Chuck in a weirdly high voice, "no flash there; he's just an ordinary guy who likes to do normal things. He definitely _is not_ a murdering assassin."

Devon visibly relaxes, and after questioning Chuck for another minute or so, goes off to find Ellie. Chuck turns to Sarah looking panicky and pulls her closer.

"_Sarah_," whispers Chuck into her ear, "_can you see the guy Awesome just pointed at? The guy in the jeans and wearing the sunglasses? That's him!_"

"_I see him Chuck_," his girlfriend whispers back. "_Casey, we have our guy. Does he have any backup?_"

"No. He must be pretty confident," replies Casey. "Walker, you go get him, numb nut, you stay here and keep your family occupied." Chuck starts to object, but he is cut off. "Moron, do you remember what happens normally when you go in by yourself?"

"Hey!" retorts Chuck, "that was before the Intersect 2.0! I am now perfectly capable of looking aft-" The blonde CIA agent tugs on his sleeve and Chuck looks at her. "What's the problem?"

"I can't see him," replies Sarah, now sounding a little worried. "Casey, can you see him anywhere?" No response.

Back in the van, all of the equipment Casey is using to monitor the situation in the gallery malfunctions; the video and audio feeds disappear, leaving behind the drone of static. The Colonel looks in disbelief until he realises the problem.

"Dammit! They've been made!" he shouted, throwing down his headset and pulling open the door of the van. He jumps out, and as he does so, he pulls out his own pistol, a SIG Sauer P229, heading for the back entrance.

In the gallery, Sarah is getting a bad feeling. Not only has their extremely dangerous target disappeared from under her nose, but she still has not found intel which could endanger the lives of Chuck and everyone he cared about. She looks around, but suddenly she stops in her tracks.

"Chuck," Sarah nudges her boyfriend. "We have a problem."

"What is it?" he says, turning around, and finds himself staring down the barrel of a Glock 18c.

"Nice of you to join the party." says the man holding the gun. "I think you already know who I am. My name is Crescent."

* * *

The Colonel grunts as he is pinned down by gunfire coming from behind a truck parked behind the building. He checks his gun. _Damn_, he thinks, _I only have a few rounds left. The moron and his girlfriend better get outta there quick otherwise I'll be the one who kills them._ He pops around the side of the wall providing him with cover and squeezes off another two rounds.

One of the hostiles drops, giving Casey a brief lull in the barrage of bullets to run to behind some crates closer to his assailants and fire off the last rounds in his gun. Another one hits the ground, the bullet puncturing a hole through the skin and flesh into the heart. The rest of the gunmen continue to fire whilst moving closer to where Casey is hiding.

"Come out and surrender Colonel! It's over!" shouts the apparent team leader. "You're surrounded and out of ammo. You've got no other choice."

Casey gives out a barking laugh. "If you think I'm alone without any backup, then think again. Once my team is finished with your asshole of a boss, they're going to kick your ass."

"Unlikely, Colonel." Casey jumps out and attempts to take them out in hand-to-hand combat, but the combined force of their team overpowers him and a heavy blow lands on the back of his head, sending him into a deep unconsciousness.

* * *

Meanwhile, Chuck and Sarah are being forced to move into the warehouse area of the gallery by Crescent, who is holding them at gunpoint.

"I'm pleasantly surprised you fell into my trap so easily." comments the assassin. "I would have thought they were more careful when trying to find me. I expected a lot more from the legendary Intersect team."

"What trap?" asks Chuck, and ignoring Sarah's look which clearly said _SHUT UP_, he continues. "I thought you were here to exchange intel on the Intersect with-"

"A cunning ruse." states Crescent. "The intel is non-existent, but its purpose has been accomplished. It has brought me you – the last existing Intersect 2.0, and I know many people who would willingly pay in the millions for the information in your head. Also, this is a way for me to show that I do not like to be double crossed."

"Wha-" Chuck starts to talk, but Sarah's look, which is now threatening a very painfull death, causes him to shut up. He looks sheepishly at Sarah. "I'm just curious…."

"And curious you should be too Agent Walker," says Crescent. "Don't you want to know what really happened on the bridge in Paris? Not even a little bit?"

"What are you talking about?" asks Sarah, sounding a little confused. "Chuck? What's he talking about?"

"Ahhhh," Their captor smiles. "He hasn't told you, has he? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your boyfriend here didn't shoot Shaw. I did, under a contract from your own very organisation – the CIA. They told me to kill him, I did, and now they're trying to cover up their tracks. The Agency wouldn't look good if they were seen to be dealing with me."

Sarah froze at the news. _Your boyfriend didn't shoot Shaw_, Crescent had said. She shakes her head. _It doesn't matter. He put his life on the line when he went up against that monster and that's all that matters. He would do anything to save me, even if it cost him his life._ Despite this, a small gnawing feeling develops. Chuck had lied to her.

* * *

"Devon," asks his impatient wife, "have you seen Chuck and Sarah? They said they were coming but I can't find them anywhere?"

"I'm sure they have an explanation," Devon replied. "Maybe they're just doing what couples do on romantic dates." Privately, he thought, _They better have a good reason._

The back entrance was kicked in and the gunmen barge in, carrying Casey by the arms. They drag him to where the other members of Team Bartowski are standing and dr

* * *

op him there. He slumps over, and Chuck catches a glimpse of a nasty looking bruise on the back of his teammate's head.

Deciding that the situation is going to get worse, Chuck speaks up. "Look," he says, "I'm the one you want – let my friends go. They aren't part of your plan."

"Why would I lose myself an extra bit of profit? The Colonel here has picked up quite a lot of enemies in his career, and undoubtedly they would give almost anything to get their hands on him. Same applies to Agent Walker here." The sound of a phone ringing emanates from his pocket, and with an "Excuse me.", Crescent turns away, apparently conversing with a buyer. He signals his team to take the agents to the truck.

The gunmen force the two CIA agents to drag the unconscious NSA agent to the truck. _As heavy as a boulder, _Chuck thought. _It would be good if I had a tractor beam like in Star Trek – then I would have to carry this heavy lug. _Realising that his current chain of thought wasn't really appropriate for the situation, Chuck discontinued it, and Team Bartowski was shut inside a holding cell in the back of a truck. He looked at his girlfriend. Outwardly, she looked mainly okay, but he could tell from her body posture that she felt hurt. "Sarah," he began, "I'm sorry I lied to you about Shaw, but trust me, I really wanted to tell you, I just didn't want to put you through all that pain again."

"It's okay, Chuck," sighed Sarah. "You risked your life for me, and that's all that I care about. Killing Shaw was never part of this – it's even better now that I know it wasn't you, it means you're still yourself."

"Thanks for being so understanding," replies Chuck, sounding relieved. Sarah feels a twinge of guilt because of her small distrust of him. "Any ideas on how to get out of here?"

The blonde CIA agent looks around as Casey awakes with a grunt. "Damn it, Bartowski! How hard is it to find a guy and knock him out? Next time we go on a mission – you're staying in the van doing surveillance!"

"Look Casey!" Chuck responds angrily, "if you don't have anything to contribute besides your usual snide comments, shut up! Right now we are locked up in a cell and most probably going to be shipped off to our individual hells, and I can't think of anything!"

Casey is a little shocked from the moron's outburst. Normally Chuck would have been too intimidated by his overwhelming size and strength, but now it seems that Chuck is at the end of his patience. "Calm down, Bartowski. It won't be hard to break outta here. Our guards will be giving us a little help."

"What?" asks Sarah. Casey nods. "When we were getting transferred to this cell, I heard them talking about when to double cross our target. When they make their move, their concentration will be shifted, so that's when we'll move. I want to bust some heads."

"How very much like you Colonel." says Crescent. "I've just gotten in touch with a certain General Martinez of the Costa Gravan army, and he wouldn't like anything better than to see you suffer."

"Too bad you won't be there to claim the reward." The team leader and the rest of the gunmen load their M4s with new clips and the bolts on the rifles click into place. "Step out slowly, all of you, and don't try any funny business."

"I would have thought as much." The assassin laughs. "I knew I should have made this a solo op."

"Too late now, isn't it?" the team leader says. "I have to appreciate you as an employer though. No-one usually pays before we provide our services, and now with the money we'll get from these government agents we'll be rich."

The gunmen drag Crescent away from the others, throw him to the ground and one of them points his M4 at his head. "Seeing that you've served your purpose, I don't need you anymore,' says the team leader. "Shoot him."

All of a sudden the man holding the gun to Crescent's head is flipped over and kicked in the head, knocking him out stone cold. The assassin quickly takes out another two with a flurry of punches to the chest and a roundhouse kick smashing into their temples, whilst the rest of the captors run for cover.

"Go go go!" shouts Casey, and he, Chuck and Sarah escape and hide. "Okay, this fight is going to get ugly. Numb nut, you go back to the van and contact the General, Walker, you're with me."

Ignoring the objections of the moron, the Colonel shoves him unceremoniously away from the fighting and smashes an incoming attacker in the jaw, creating a resounding crack and incapacitating him. Casey pulls out the attacker's sidearm, a USP, and loads it.

"Go, moron!" he shouts as he returns fire. "Walker, I could use some help here!"

"Go Chuck," whispers Sarah into his ear. "Sarah, I can look after myself, I've got the Intersect 2.0, I can help y-"

The blonde puts up her most pleading expression. Herr boyfriend hesistates, but then he nods. "Stay safe." he says. "For me."

The blonde hugs him, and then runs off to join the burly NSA agent in attempting to neutralise the enemy team and capture the target. Chuck runs off to the van, his heart pounding in his chest as he thinks of the danger the love of his life is in.

* * *

**Okay, that was chapter 3! How was it? Please review! Chapter 4 will probably take a little more time to be put up, too much work to do.**

**PS Could those who keep posting super negative reviews please try and tone it down. This is my first story.**


	4. Strange Bedfellows

**Chuck Versus a Man called Crescent**

This is my first story arc guys so be cool…..

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but I do own the characters I create. No-one steals Crescent from me, oh no no they don't.

**PS After seeing all the comments on Sarah/OC, I have decided to remove this idea. Crescent is now a supporting character which stirs up a little trouble in the team.**

* * *

**Strange Bedfellows**

The Colonel and his partner fire off another couple of rounds, dropping two more attackers, but then their hammers on their guns click back. The clips are empty.

"Walker, go back to the van and check on the moron. Contact Beckman. Knowing Bartowski, he's probably forgotten. I hold them off here for as long as I can.," grunts Casey.

Acknowledging this, Sarah takes a deep breath and runs out from her cover, narrowly missed by a hail of bullets. She runs back to the alley where the van is parked and hammers on the door, which slides open. Something leaps out and pulls her into an embrace, and Sarah is about to strike back when she recognises the familiar scent of her boyfriend.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried that they could hurt you," breaths out Chuck.

"They couldn't hurt me if they tried," she replies with a smile. However, realising the seriousness of the situation, she reverts back to agent mode. "Have you informed the General of what has just happened?"

"Yes. A backup team is on its way. ETA is half an hour." says Chuck.

"That isn't fast enough." states Sarah. "When I left Casey back there, he was pinned down and out of ammo. We need to go back and help him; that backup won't arrive in time." With that, she goes into the van and returns with more clips for her pistol and a tranq gun for Chuck.

The remaining gunmen concentrate their fire on their ex-boss, who is hiding behind a crate. One of them breaks off and runs at him with his combat knife, and ends up being held hostage with the blade to his throat.

"Now let's not get over-excited, shall we?" Crescent says, slightly out of breath. He coughs out blood, but quickly wipes it away to conceal the sign of weakness. "Put down your weapons. You don't want this to get any messier."

The team leader pauses for a second, but, raising his rifle, says, "He's not worth it. Nothing personal, Kenny." He fires off several rounds, hitting his own teammate in the stomach and forehead and Crescent in the upper chest. The rest of the team open fire as well, but the wounded assassin has already disappeared. Casey takes the opportunity when the gunmen are distracted and manages to overpower one of them, taking his rifle and firing on the rest. The leader goes down and Sarah and Chuck, entering the fray, finish off by dropping the remaining gunmen.

Admiring his handiwork, Casey smirks. "No-one messes with the Angel de la Muerte. Good job, Bartowski, Walker." He pauses. "Just a second – where's our assassin friend?"

* * *

Crescent stumbles into the alleyway, hitting the wall and groaning from the pain. _Damn_, he thinks, _I'm losing my touch. _He rips off a part of his shirt, loops it around his chest and ties a tight knot. As the fabric scrapes across the wound, his face contorts as he gives off a scream. He presses his right palm over it and attempts to continue, but collapses on the ground. His vision begins to fade around the edges, and he sees a large man standing in front of him just as he blacks out. Casey grunts as he hoists him onto his shoulder.

"Do you want some help with that?" asks Chuck. The Colonel, giving a small chuckle, replies, "Save your strength, Bartowski. You might fall over and hit your you-know-whats, and you won't be able to express your lady feelings. Walker here would be very unhappy."

"What are you-" begins Chuck, and then the memories flood back. "Oh no. You didn't."

"I did. Bartowski, did it ever occur to you that you have to train your muscles before you try heavy weightlifting?" Casey says with a smirk on his face. "Maybe you should stick with the two kilo dumbbells for now."

"In my defence, I thought it was a lot lighter so I wasn't expecti-"

"Could you two stop arguing and contact Beckman to tell her that we have him." says Sarah, acting as the voice of reason. The two men, giving each other one last stare, stop and the General's face appears on the main monitor in the van.

"Congratulations on the successful mission, team." Beckman says. "I see you have captured our target. Bring him back to Castle."

Looking at the improvised bandage around Crescent's chest, which was now completely drenched in blood, the blonde speaks up. "Negative, General. His wounds are too severe - we need to get him to a hospital before he bleeds to death."

"Agent Walker, the hospital is too far away. Our guest may not make it, therefore you are taking him to Castle, where Chuck will use the Intersect to perform surgery and remove the bullet."

"General-" Sarah tries to talk, but Beckman cuts her off. "No more objections. You have your orders – that is all." The feed cuts and the silence is only broken by the groaning of the patient.

"Hey, I can do this!" exclaims Chuck. "Remember the time when I removed the bullet from Casey's leg?" The Colonel grunts something which sounds like "bastard stole my blood". Despite being a little put off by Casey's comment, Chuck continues. "Now, let's get the patient to the operating table."

* * *

After a long session with a scalpel and various other medical tools, Chuck stumbles out and collapses into a chair. He pulls off his gloves and apron which have been covered with a layer of blood, and gives a long groan. Sarah walks past him and takes a look at the unconscious Crescent.

"How are you?" she asks.

"As happy as I am that I am able to perform complex surgery, I really don't want to do it again. Do you have any idea how frightening it is to see blood shooting out onto your chest?"

She doesn't turn around. "I've been in that situation before – it's not really scary after a few times. You just get used to it."

Flashing her a more nervous smile, Chuck replies, "Thanks for sharing that with me. That paints quite the disturbing picture in my head, you know – remind me never to annoy you when you're holding _anything_ which has one or more sharp edges."

His girlfriend doesn't respond, and Chuck feels that something is wrong. "Sarah, I can tell when you're angry and hurt, and this is one of those moments. I know you said that you're okay with the fact I didn't shoot Shaw, but you're definitely angry about me lying."

Sarah turns around and Chuck notices the vulnerability in her eyes. This is Sarah, the emotional twenty-or-so year old woman, not Agent Walker, the robotic assassin who switches off her emotions with a switch. "Look, Chuck," she says, "I love you so much, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life, but we have to get things straight. NEVER lie to me again."

"Okay. I promise never to lie to you again, sweetie." Chuck leans in and gives her a little peck on the lips, but this develops into an all-out tongue twister between the both of them. Sarah breaks the kiss and gives her boyfriend a loving gaze, which he returns. They kiss again, just as Casey walks in. "Ugh," he says. "Could you two not do your business here? I am here for a lot of the time, and I don't want to mention how many mental scars I've obtained." They break apart, and Casey continues. "How's the assassin?"

"He's recovering in one of the holding cells. He'll be waking up soon." responds Chuck.

"Good. Beckman wants to talk to us, and him as well. Bring him in as soon as he's conscious and contact me when we're ready to call the General. I've got a few Beastmasters to sell." The Colonel goes up the stairs and through the secret door into the freezer of the Orange Orange, leaving Chuck and Sarah all by themselves.

"You know, there's still plenty of time to do some stuff before he wakes up." says Sarah in a huskier voice. She gives Chuck a seductive smile which she knows he cannot resist. They lean in for a kiss, and this time they are not disturbed.

* * *

Casey steps out of the freezer and walks out behind the counter, where he sees an nervous looking Devon.

"Devon." Casey nods his head in greeting. "What's the problem?"

"Well, first of all, I know you guys just went on a mission, because we were evacuated from the building and we saw an all out gunfight round the back, and also I think Ellie might have figured out that Chuck is a spy."

"That's impossible. There's no way she could have seen him – Bartowski only arrived at the end."

"Yeeah, we kinda stayed because Ellie decided it was a better idea to hide inside, and she heard a very girly scream which only Chuck can do. She also saw him carrying a gun and shooting it at those people."

"Damn moron, can't even notice when he's being watched." says Casey under his breath. Raising his voice back to its normal volume, he says, "Devon, I think you should try and convince Ellie that Chuck carries a gun just in case he needs to defend himself, which is what happened today."

Devon gives a sigh of relief, but still looks a little uneasy. "That might work, but I don't know whether she'll buy it. I mean, if I know Chuck, no offence, he's the kind of guy who would be too scared to hold a gun, let alone use it."

The Colonel grunts. "It'll work. Now, if you excuse me, I have to return to the BuyMore for my shift before they notice I'm late." He slips out of the door and drags out a skinny teenager holding a camera. He growls at the kid, who immediately runs away as fast as he can. Casey smirks.

* * *

Crescent, aka David Lawson, Matthew Lee, Victor Goldacre etc. , gradually wakes up from a long sleep. He feels like someone's driven a truck over his chest and his head is still fuzzy from the anaesthetics. Sitting up, he looks around and, seeing an access terminal next to the door, walks over to it, supporting himself with a chair. Using a flat piece of metal he pulled of the bed, he levers off the case of the terminal and rewires it, and the door slides open.

He limps into the main area, where he finds the two CIA agents entwined with each other and kissing passionately. He coughs, and Chuck immediately jumps off Sarah, who pulls out her gun and aims it at him. "Sit down." she orders.

"Looks like you're a little jumpy. Not angry that I walked in on a little moment of yours, are you, Agents Walker and Carmichael?"

"Shut up." she snaps as she reaches for her phone and rings Casey. "Yes, he's awake… okay, I'll do that." She hangs up, and runs into the armoury, returning with two pairs of cuffs. She cuffs Crescent's wrists and ankles together, and steps back to admire her handiwork.

"Please, do you think I could escape with this aching wound here?" he says.

"Better safe than sorry." she replies coldly. Casey enters Castle from the Orange Orange entrance, and sees the assassin shackled up. "Good," he smirks, "I see you took my advice and cuffed him. Now let's contact the General and get this creep off our hands."

"I may be injured, but I'm not deaf, Colonel Casey, or should I use your real name – Alexander Coburn." This earns him a right hook in the mouth. "I struck a nerve, didn't I?"

"You go there again, and I assure you that I will kill you with my right thumb."

Beckman's face blossoms onto the screen. "I don't think that killing your team member would be a good idea, Colonel. Stand down." Casey steps back reluctantly, and then stops, realizing what the General just said. "Team member?" he says in disbelief.

"That is correct, Colonel. Crescent will provide his services and intel to Team Bartowski about your missions. He will be briefed on his cover identity later."

"What makes you think that I'll help you?" says Crescent. "I seem to recall you are the one who put me up for target practice."

"If you refuse, you will be sent to a CIA detention centre, and there will not be a very welcome reception. You have built up many enemies, Crescent, and you would not be in the safest situation."

"Is that a threat, Beckman?" says the assassin in a low voice. She nods and pauses for a second. "You have to make your decision now, Crescent." she says.

* * *

After a short car journey back to Casa Bartowski-Woodcomb, the three members of Team Bartowski step out, along with the newest addition.

"_Crescent, you will adopt the identity of Daine Reynolds, a twenty-nine-year-old criminal psychology graduate from Harvard. You will move in with Colonel Casey in his apartment at Echo Park and attempt to fit in the community to the best of your ability. You will be kept under twenty four hour surveillance, and I warn you, if you attempt at any point to escape, you will be recaptured and sent on a one way trip to a detention centre. Do I make myself clear?_

_Daine nods. "Perfectly, General."_

"_General, I don't think this is a good idea." Chuck says. "No offence to you, Daine, but he poses a significant security risk to all those around him, including my family who are __**living just on the opposite side of the courtyard!**__"_

"_You don't have to worry, Chuck." says Sarah. "If he even tries to make a move, he'll be an eunuch for the rest of his life." She shoots a glare at the man which clearly promises a lot more bodily harm than she has mentioned already._

"_God, what an incredibly welcoming and friendly team. I think this will be fun."_

Daine follows his new room-mate to the door of the apartment. He looks around the courtyard. Typical urban house split into three apartments. He would not have guessed that this was the location of a top-secret CIA-NSA black ops team.

"So, Colonel, where's my room?" he asks. "Down the corridor. Second on your left." came a grunted reply. "Don't get too comfy." _Charming fellow, _Daine thinks, and he feels a tap on his shoulder. He turns to find a smiling woman, around thirty years old, standing right behind him. "Hi," she begins, "Who are you?"

"Oh yes, you must be Chuck's older sister Eleanor. I'm Daine, I'm Casey's new room-mate. Pleased to meet you."

"You too. Hey, would you like to come over for dinner tonight? Jus want to welcome you into the neighbourhood – have you met my husband Devon?" Ellie pulls out Devon from nowhere and introduces them to each other.

"So, Daine, are you with anyone?" Devon asks "Girlfriend, boyfriend?" His wife shoots him an angry glance. "Excuse my husband, he can be very _judging_ when it comes to appearances."

Daine smiles. "No offence taken. And no, I don't have a girlfriend. I did have a fiancé, but she was killed in an accident. I'm not really comfortable yet with sharing my life with another person."

"I am _so _sorry, bro." says Devon. An awkward silence begins, only broken when Chuck and Sarah emerge from their apartment and notice Ellie and Devon talking with the "mad psychotic off-the-leash murderer", as Chuck so eloquently put it. "Hey guys," says Chuck as he joins the huddle. "I see you've met Daine, our new neighbour. I hope he's behaving himself." he adds staring right at the guy.

"Don't worry, Chuck, he's being a perfect gentleman." answers Ellie. "In fact, I've invited him to dinner tonight. You and Sarah should come along too! It'll be fun!" Chuck looks like he's about to start protesting, but his girlfriend cuts in. "We'd love to. Now, Chuck and I are going to go out for a while, so see you later at your place at around eight?"

Ellie nods and returns to her apartment with Devon in tow, and Chuck turns to Daine with a threatening look on his face. "Don't try any funny business tonight, or-"

"Or what? You'll beat me up?" he replies. "Unlikely, and besides, I won't do anything stupid. I give you my word, for what it's worth." Daine turns around and goes into Casey's apartment, slamming the door shut behind him.

"I'm sorry, but I really feel that I cannot trust that guy," says Chuck.

"I agree with you," responds Sarah. "There is something about him that makes me feel uneasy. But right now," she gives her boyfriend a peck on the lips, "let's go do something fun. And no, we are not watching another episode of that lame scifi show you keep watching."

"Oh come on, how can you not enjoy Star Trek? It is a total classic!" The two of them joke and bicker as they walk out of Casa Bartowski-Woodcomb.

Going into his room, Daine locks the door, and collapses onto the bed whilst coughing heavily. He pulls out an inhaler and takes a shot of it, and the coughing stops. Relaxing a little, he pulls out a small scuffed photo of a young woman, which he strokes. A single tear rolls down his face, and when he hears Casey knocking on his door, he quickly wipes it away and tucks the photo away in his pocket.

"What is it, Colonel?" he asks, and finds him holding out a pizza box. "Eat up." Says Casey gruffly. "It's going to be a while before eight, and I don't want to have to deal with a starved-to-death body." With that, he returns back into the sitting room, where he picks up a cleaning cloth and starts polishing his pistol.

_That man is an enigma_, thought Daine. _One second he's as scary as hell, and the next he's exactly the opposite. And the other two, Bartowski and Walker, they're clearly in love each other. Wonder how long it'll last. People don't really last long in this profession. She didn't. _As he pushes the door shut, he has his hand over his pocket and an almost sad expression flickers across his face.

**Well, first of all, sorry for Chapter 4 being a little late, back log of work. Anyways, review it please, more ideas welcome.**


	5. Some Stones are Better Left Unturned

**Chuck Versus a Man called Crescent**

This is my first story arc guys so be cool…..

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but I do own the characters I create. No-one steals Crescent from me, oh no no they don't.

* * *

**Some Stones are Better Left Unturned**

At exactly eight o'clock, Daine knocks on the door, wearing a loose blue shirt with rolled up sleeves and a simple pair of jeans. As the door opens, he puts on his fake smile and greets his new neighbours. "Good evening," he says, "I hope I'm not late."

"Of course not, in fact you're right on time," says Devon. "Come on in, bro. Make yourself comfortable. Ellie! Our guest is here!" Ellie pops out from behind the counter with a baking tray with cookies on it. She immediately puts them down, hurries over to Daine and reaches for out a hug, which he reciprocates.

"Thank you for coming tonight, Daine, dinner will be ready soon." she says. "You look great!" He smiles, responding with the same compliment and causes her to smile as well. Something bubbles dangerously close to the edge of a pot and she almost leaps back to the kitchen to deal with it. Suddenly, she screams and the two guys rush over. "Are you hurt?" exclaims Devon, and his wife shakes her head, pointing at the pot roast with a pouting expression on her face.

"Honey, have you eaten tonight's dinner already?" she says with gritted teeth and a forced smile. "If you have, you have a lot to answer for!" Devon steps back as she approaches him brandishing a spatula at him in a menacing manner. "No, babe, I didn't, it must have been an animal or one of Chuck's friends from the BuyMore."

Ellie gasps. "You let those weirdos in here and left them alone with _our food? _You're coming with me, mister, and we are having a talk about who you can or cannot let into our apartment." She effectively drags him behind her and Devon shoots an apologetic glance at Daine. When he is alone, he pulls out the locket, which he flicks open, and gazes on the image of him and the young woman from the other photo, sending him into a flashback into his past.

_The crops in the field swayed and rippled like waves as soft breezes of wind blew over them. The sun shone brightly, reflecting off the stream running down the middle of the field and making it sparkle like a diamond. The surface of water was still and undisturbed, providing a perfect reflection of the clear blue sky above._

_Suddenly, the reflection is shattered like a mirror into a million tiny shards as two figures jump in and splash each other, grinning and laughing out loud like young children. The woman jumps onto her partner and kisses him on the lips passionately, only breaking apart to catch a breath of the clear fresh air. The man smiles with genuine happiness and leads her under an old oak tree, where a picnic has already been set up. They eagerly tuck into the food and drink, and when they finish, she cuddles with him on a blanket and they stare out at the sky and enjoy the views until the sun sinks down and the moon rises accompanied by the brightness of the hundreds of stars dotted on the sky._

_The moonlight reflects off her unblemished skin, bathing it in a beautiful glow. Her eyes shine just like the stars in the sky twinkling away above them. The man knows that this is the moment, and he takes out a small box and gets onto one knee, opening it in front of her, revealing a beautiful ring studded with diamonds in the shape of a crescent moon. He looks deep into her eyes, and she gasps, seeming a little shocked. For a second, there is intolerable suspense, until she nods and crashes her lips onto his, pushing him over. She lies on top of him with the happiest expression on her face as she slips the ring onto her finger._

* * *

Daine is snapped out of his trance by the knocking on the door, which he answers, pulling open the door and revealing Chuck, who is still wearing his Nerd Herd uniform, and Sarah, who obviously had a lot of time to prepare since she was wearing a stunningly beautiful red dress. "Hello," he begins, attempting to greet the two, but they brush past him to say hello to Ellie and Devon instead. Casey also walks in, holding a bottle of red wine, but he stops and holds his hand out to Daine, who looks justifiably surprised but shakes his hand anyways.

"Guys, I'm sorry, but Devon here was an idiot and let in Jeff and Lester, who promptly ate our dinner for tonight," says Ellie, "so, if you don't mind, we'll have to either go out for dinner or stay in and call for some takeaway. I hope you're not too disappointed."

"Of course not sis. Personally I would like to stay here," replies Chuck. "I mean, it would be better if we could just have a more casual night and get to know our new neighbour." When no-one is watching, he glares at Daine with a look which said _Remember what I said about not messing this up __**or else**_. The other guy acknowledges this with a nod, and speaks up. "How about this Chinese takeaway I know? Their dumplings are delicious, and so is the fried rice."

"Not a bad a idea, bro." responds Devon. "Any objections?" Seeing that everyone is happy with the choice, he picks up a phone, dials and begins to order some dishes. All the assembled people sit down and Sarah snuggles up to Chuck, who flashes her a million megawatt smile which made her melt inside every time he did it. The older Bartowski stifles a little sob and Devon asks her whether she is okay. "No, no, I'm fine, I just really happy that those two have finally decided to be together." "Thanks Ellie," smiles Sarah, and lightly kisses Chuck on the lips once. Casey also reacts, but it seems like he is stifling a groan and his sudden urge to vomit, and Daine's eyes just glaze over, as if he is remembering something else.

"Anyways," says Ellie, "as happy as I am for the two of you, I want to spend tonight finding out about Daine here." She turns to him. "So, what can you tell us about yourself? Where are you from? What do you do?" Daine doesn't answer for a second, but quickly replies. "Well, I was born in England, which is why I have this British accent, and I came over to the States to study at Harvard. Criminal Psychology." He takes a long drink from his glass. "That's when I met her. She was called Melissa. She was so…." Daine stops. "Sorry, it's just a little hard talking about her."

Ellie sighed. "You seem like a really nice guy, and I know you're having troubles trying to let go of your fiancé, but it's no use just wallowing in self-pity – whoever she was, she probably doesn't want to see you locking people out. That's what Chuck did for five years after he got dumped by his old girlfriend, until Sarah came along and made him happy. If you feel angry at me for saying this, I won't blame you, but I think you need someone like Sarah – to help you move on."

"Yeah." was his short response. "I guess you're probably right. I'll try, but I don't give you any promises for immediate actions on my part. I mean, who would ever go out with an emotional train wreck like me?" Devon speaks up, "Hey bro, don't sell yourself short, you have a kind heart and are pretty good-looking. I'm not pressuring you or anything, but I could think of several people I know who would love to go out with you."

"Thanks Devon."

"Don't sweat it, bro. And you can call me Captain Awesome. That's my nickname."

* * *

After the dinner, the guests leave, separating and going their own ways. Chuck, carrying a sleeping Sarah on his back, heads off to his apartment, attempting to unlock his door but ends up dropping his keys. He crouches slightly, and using his arm, he reaches out for his keys and feels Sarah slipping and immediately uses his arm to support her again. His dozing girlfriend must have felt it too, since she had gripped onto him a lot harder, like a koala bear hanging on to a tree, and started mumbling something that sounded like "don't leave me Chuck". He thinks, _Not in a million years. I love you, Sarah Walker, and I wouldn't leave you even if I was going to die if I didn't._

By mere chance, the door to Casey's apartment opens, and the new room-mate walks out, clutching his chest and wheezing slightly. He takes a puff from his inhaler and exhales loudly in relief, and is almost surprised when he hears his "name" being called. Looking over, he sees Chuck looking a little annoyed and Sarah grabbing him with her arms like there was no tomorrow. "What's up, Chuck?" he asks. "The keys." gasps Chuck. "Door. Unlock. I'm about to be choked to death."

Daine picks up the keys from the ground and unlocks the door. "Thanks, Daine." Chuck says with gratitude after plopping Sarah on the couch. Robbed of her "mast", she unconsciously grabs a cushion and squeezes on it with all her might. "I almost died from strangulation." The other guy smiles and turns to leave, but Chuck stops him. "I also wanted to say thanks for not screwing up tonight."

"No problem. Just sticking to the rules." replies Daine. "Nothing to it." He starts to walk again, but Chuck halts him again. "Just one question – was your story about your fiancé real?" The other guy pauses for a moment, and then replies, "No Chuck. Of course she isn't. It was a pretty convincing lie, wasn't it? I'm a good operative, and I know settling down to a normal life with someone is dangerous for myself, as well as for them." With that, he returns to Casey's apartment, from which gunshots and explosions can be heard, leaving Chuck a little disappointed. _It seemed so real at the time_, he thinks, _but like he said, it was a lie. Or was it?_ Breaking off from that line of thought, he closes the door and heads off to deal with Sarah.

* * *

_The man awakes as he feels drops of water falling and hitting his skin. He reaches out around him to find his beautiful fiancé but strangely all warmth has gone from her. He sits bolt upright, looks at her and gasps. Her eyes are wide open and her mouth is agape. Her body is contorted and her arms and legs are bruised. He pulls her to him and whispers prayers into her ear, hoping for her to wake up and tell him it was a joke, but nothing happens. He picks her up, running into the rain and the wind, until he collapses onto his knees and cries out in anguish and despair._

The vividly disturbing dream shocks its dreamer into consciousness. He pants as he fights to breathe, and swings his legs over the side of the bed. His internal clock had not gone off yet, but the nightmare was enough to drive him from his sleep. Closing his eyes, Daine breathes out and tries to relax a little, but is disturbed by Casey banging on the door. "Get up, Reynolds, and get yourself ready. Briefing in ten minutes." The Colonel walks off and sees Chuck and Sarah walk in holding hands, and he makes a mental note to make the moron's life a little unbearable for the torture he'd been exposed to.

"So, Casey, how did you enjoy last night?" asks Chuck. "You were _very_ quiet – scared we might ask about your lady feelings, Sugar Bear?" Casey's eyes flash with anger and it seems that he is about to rain down pain and suffering on Chuck, but the blonde steps in. "Now, boys, let's play nice," she says, staring daggers at Casey, and he backs down. "Where's Daine?"

"Sleepy boy still in bed." Came the grunted reply, just as Daine wanders in with only his trousers on, revealing a well toned and muscled upper body which glistened from a thin layer of sweat. Sarah's eyebrows shoot up and Chuck starts choking on his last bite of breakfast. "Good morning, team," says the half-naked Daine. "Casey, help Chuck or he'll choke to death." Casey looks as if he is considering whether he should just let the moron do so, until the ever-present look of death on Sarah's face convinces him to do otherwise. "Moron," says the grumpy man under his breath as he "unchokes" Chuck.

The General pops into existence on the screen and looks at the members of her top team, who are either in a state of undress, standing behind another member with their arms wrapped around them, or looking very unamused. "Will somebody please tell me what on earth is going on?" she asks, exasperated. "Did all of you get drunk last night?" Casey sniggers, looking at Chuck and Sarah, and says, "No, General, Bartowski here caused a matter of national emergency when he choked on a bit of pretzel."

"In my defence I don't normally get up in the morning to find half naked men standing in front of me." "Numb nut." "Hey, you can talk, Mr. Suga-"

"Enough! I am here to brief you on your next mission, not act as a parent to some unruly children!" After the situation diffuses, she continues. "We have reason to believe that the people who Mr. Reynolds' team at the art gallery was working for are part of the Ring, and since they have displayed a fair amount of unwanted interest in the Intersect, you are to infiltrate their base of operations and eliminate all of them. These are the targets." Several images of men in tuxedos appear alongside Beckman's face, and Chuck flashes on all six of them. "Yuri Petrovich, Vladmir Stravinsky, Kurt von Schleiffer and Heinrich Hoeffer," he spits out, "all wealthy and influential businessmen linked to the trafficking of illegal weapons and drugs, but never charged."

"That's right, Agent Bartowski, they have never been charged because of the protection they buy from corrupt government officials. Both the CIA and NSA have had their eyes on them, and now we have discovered their link to the Ring, we see it fit for us to strike and potentially cripple the organisation."

"So, this will be a quick in and out mission then, General?" asks Daine.

"If you call a trip into Siberia a quick mission, then yes, Mr. Reynolds. Oh yes, and one more thing – this mission will not be officially sanctioned by the CIA or NSA due to the high profile of these men, so mistakes cannot be afforded on your part. Do you all understand?"

* * *

**So chapter 5 is complete, and you can expect more, but probably only an update a week. Look out for Team Bartowski's adventure in the Siberian goolags!**


	6. Not an Ideal Holiday, Part 1

**Chuck Versus a Man called Crescent**

This is my first story arc guys so be cool…..

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but I do own the characters I create. No-one steals Crescent from me, oh no no they don't.

**Not the Ideal Holiday, Part 1**

Chuck collapses facedown onto his bed exhausted from a whole morning of vigorous exercise, if the definition of exercise included fighting a trained assassin in hand to hand combat for over an hour with no breaks. He hears a creaking of the floorboards and through his pillow, mumbles, "Go away. Baby. Needs. Beauty. Sleep."

"Oh man, did you just have a mish?" asks an excited Morgan Grimes, Chuck's best friend. "You look totally wasted." A Casey-esque grunt comes as a reply as Chuck sits up, groaning and rubbing his bruised stomach. "You have no idea. I just spent the whole morning in a fight against a trained killer and only managed to land a few punches, whilst _this _is what happened to me." Pulling up his right sleeve, a battered and bruised forearm reveals itself and Morgan involuntarily draws in a sharp breath.

"That is some serious damage, buddy," says Morgan, "did you get Sarah angry or something?" "Oh no, I wasn't fighting against Sarah, it was the new guy." "What new guy?" And at that exact point the door to Chuck's room was kicked open and Daine ran in with his pistol at the ready, pointing it straight at Morgan, causing him to give a little girlish shriek and hide behind Chuck. "Put the gun away! This is my friend, Morgan! Didn't you read about him in the briefing file?"

An awkward silence falls as Daine uncocks his pistol and tucks it under his belt behind his back, pulling his shirt over it. The three of them stands there looking at each other until Morgan chimes in. "You're that new guy, aren't you? The one who was sparring with my buddy Chuck here?" Daine nods and introduces himself. "Well, as Chuck said just now, I'm Morgan – and I'm a spy too. Yeah, Beckman just phoned me and asked me to join – I'm pretty skilled, you know." Daine looks skeptically at the short bearded man, and coughs. "If you'd excuse me, Morgan, I need to talk to Chuck." Seeing that Morgan is about to talk, he cuts in. "In private." Morgan looks a little put off, but walks out, leaving the two 'real' spies inside.

"What's up, Daine?" asks Chuck. "You know, as much as I know you like fighting, you gotta tone it down when you're not actually trying to kill someone. I can't even move my back without this horrible pain shooting down my back." The other guy looks at him quizzically. "I _did_ tone it down," he replies, "and anyways, if I didn't fight like I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't have learnt anything which would save your life in the field."

Changing the subject hastily, Chuck asks, "When are we heading out? I need to know, because I don't want to miss this movie I'm going to watch with Sarah tonight and-"

"We leave for Siberia tonight."

* * *

People bustled around the four of members of Team Bartowski as they stood in the lobby of the Los Angeles International Airport carrying several bags stuffed full of the kit they needed for the mission and a whole load of weapons (which Casey had insisted they bring). They move towards one of the emergency exits, and after a few seconds of rewiring, the doors swing open and the alarm remains silent. Proceeding through the exit, down the stairs and another doorway, they step onto the tarmac and head for a smaller private jet.

"Are we flying in that?" asks Chuck. "Finally, after all those painful hours spent trying to squeeze into economy class seats, it looks like the CIA has finally listened to me. Agent Charles Carmichael is flying first class." He does a little spin on the spot, causing Sarah to giggle a little bit, and seeing this, he leans over and whispers in her ear. His girlfriend attempts to stop herself from blushing but ends up as red as a beetroot. The Colonel grunts.

"Now is not the time for sweet talk, Bartowski," Casey says with a twinge of annoyance in his voice. "This mission is extremely dangerous and if you don't knuckle down you'll get you _and_ your team killed." This shuts up the talkative Chuck, and they walk up to the plane, where a hostess and the pilot are waiting. "Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael! May we have your bags?" The two look at each other and start talking at the same time. "We're not married," they say in unison, to which the hostess responds with a knowing look, and Chuck continues, "but I would appreciate it if you could help us with our bags."

The hostess nods and signals to a man, who walks up and takes the bags off the four of them, grunting as he lifts them up the stairs and into the plane. They follow him up and seat themselves in extremely comfortable recliners, sighing in relief. "This is what I'm talking about! Luxury leather chairs, refreshing drinks served whenever you want – I am going to enjoy this." Casey groans as he realises that telling the moron to shut up is pointless, and Daine grins a little. The pilot's voice crackles over the intercom as he informs them that the plane will lift off The four of them are so focused on talking/arguing with one another that they do not notice the hostess unzipping one of their bags, pulling out a metal suitcase and taking out the gun, which she loads.

The plane shakes a little as it hits a patch of turbulence, and the martini Chuck is holding in his hand empties itself onto his trousers, causin

* * *

g him to go red slightly. Sarah's eyebrows rise slightly and flashes him her seductive smile. Chuck's face is now as red as a blooming rose, and he gets up and walks to the toilet to deal with his 'boy business'. The blonde can't help but giggle a little as she remembers the embarrassed look on her boyfriend's face.

All of a sudden, the hostess, accompanied by two porters, strides in and raises a gun at the three. Casey immediately leaps at her, attempting to wrestle the gun from her, and Daine and Sarah launch themselves against the two remaining assailants. The fight goes on for five minutes, and one of the porters lies heavily winded on the floor, whilst Casey grabs the other one, drives a knee into his chest and throws him at Daine, which knocks him out with a single roundhouse kick to the temple. Sarah, however, is fighting a losing battle against the larger and stronger hostess. Her dress is ripped, her face bruised and her makeup starting to run from the sweat and blood on her face.

Sarah blocks a right hook and tries to go for the choke hold, but the other woman ducks under and, sliding behind the CIA agent, snakes her arm around her neck and begins to squeeze. "You two! If you don't want to see her die, I suggest you stop right now!" The Colonel and Daine hesitate for a second, but pause. "Good," says the woman, "now get up, you useless moron, and tie them up." The winded porter struggles to his feet, and producing zip ties from a pouch, restrains the both of them and punches Daine in the mouth, whom spits out blood. "Now, let's get Mr. Carmichael out here to join the party."

Keeping her arm round Sarah's throat, the hostess knocks on the toilet door and says, "Mr. Carmichael, you've been in there for a very long time, and Ms. Walker is getting worried." A flush and a while later, Chuck steps out, only to find his entire team tied up or being held hostage. "Now, Mr. Carmichael, you _will _reveal the identity of the human Intersect you and your team are protecting, or," she tightens her lock around the blonde's throat and she starts choking, "I will kill Ms. Walker here and now."

Chuck looks desperately at Daine and Casey, and the latter mouths _Use the Intersect and flash or I'll make you into a eunuch._ He gulps, looks back at his girlfriend, who mouths a similar message albeit without the threats, and his eyelids flutter as the familiar flash of martial arts floods his mind. The hostess looks expectantly at Chuck, who now is sporting a goofy smile. "So, Carmichael. Ready to talk?" The confident Chuck shakes his head, and Sarah manages to break free and elbow the hostess in the stomach, winding and knocking her over. The restrained Colonel leans forward and head butts the porter in the face, and Chuck knocks him out with a well placed fist in his face.

"Impressive," says Daine, "and now, if you don't mind, untie Casey and I and let's get the hell off this plane before we get killed." After being freed, he rubs his wrists and head off to locate some parachutes with the Colonel in tow. Chuck turns to Sarah with a look of concern set on his face. "Are you okay, Sarah? Did she hurt you?"

"No, Chuck, I'm fine." The blonde sees a shred of doubt in his eyes, and crashes her lips onto his. After a while, they break apart, a little out of breath after the long passionate kiss. "Sweetie, don't worry. I really am okay." "I was really worried, she had her arm around your neck, and you were choking, and I was scared that she was going to-" Chuck is interrupted by Daine, who coughs. "I hate to break up this little moment of yours, but we need to go now. GPS says we're over Siberia right now, and if we don't jump now, for all I know we might end up rotting in a cell in North Africa."

Sarah sighs, straps on her parachute, whilst the other three do the same, and walks over to the door, which is ripped off its hinges the second it is opened. The cabin decompresses, sending the two porters out, but the hostess is up on her feet, holding an object which has glowing numbers on it. Squinting at it, Chuck is hit by a flash, and he recognises it as an IG-88 bomb, and it appears the rest of the team has also realized what it was. A sadistic smile forms on the hostess' face and she mouths _You lose_. "Move your scrawny ass now, Bartowski!" yells Casey, and he grabs Chuck, lifting him up and throwing him out the doorway. The Colonel gives off what sounds like a little groan as he steps out of the plane, and Sarah and Daine follow him.

As the wind whistles past them, Chuck cranes his neck and looks at Casey, who points at the ripcord and puts up five fingers, counting down. When he reaches zero, he and Chuck tug on their cords, and the parachutes blossoms out from their back, slowing them down immediately. Breathing a sigh of relief, Chuck looks back up only to see Sarah struggling with her parachute, which has become stuck, and continuing to fall faster towards her doom. He screams and tries to navigate himself to catch her, but she shoots past him, her arms outstretched towards him and with a look of sadness on her face.

"No!" shouts Chuck, and he tries to take the parachute harness off, but the voice of the Colonel crackles into his ear. "Chuck, don't do it! If you get out of that harness, both of you will die! Think about it, moron! Would she have wanted you to throw your life away like that?" Tears stream down the desolate Chuck's face, but he sees Daine shoot pass him as well with a determined expression and catch up to Sarah, who he grabs by the waist.

"Let go!" she shouts over the wind, "The parachute can't take both our weights – it'll break and we'll both die!" Daine responds with a smile as he pulls the ripcord, and his parachute shoots out. The rope strains as it bears the weight of the two, but the parachute holds and they land safely albeit a lot harder on a snowy hillside, followed shortly by Chuck, who immediately discards his parachute and runs over to Sarah. The blonde is lying on top of her saviour, dazed but unharmed, and her boyfriend pulls her into his embrace. The two have a moment, which is disturbed by the arrival of Casey and the wheezing of Daine, who leans over and spits out blood, staining the white snow with specks of red.

"Are you two lovebirds okay?" asks Casey, and satisfied with their condition, checks on Daine, who is having a more serious fit of coughing. The Colonel fishes out an inhaler from nowhere and hands it to the other guy, who gratefully accepts it and takes a few shots, calming down after a while. Chuck walks over to him and helps him up. "Thank you for saving Sarah," he says. "All in a day's work," replies Daine, "so there's not really any need to thank me – I'm sure you would have done the same for me."

"I hate to break up this little happy reunion of yours, but let me remind you that we still have a mission on our hands. First, we need to get over to that town, find out where we are, and then try to contact an informant I know who can get us there." "Can it wait?" asks Chuck, gesturing at Sarah. The Colonel grunts, turning away from them and marching down the slope towards the town. "Not an ideal holiday, is it, sweetie?" sighs Chuck.

* * *

**Like I said, only one update per week now, but I hope I'll be able to do more. Anyways, please review and maybe give some ideas.**

**P.S. I do not condone what happened in the latest episode of Chuck. Removing the Intersect and then blowing up Orion's base (which only ever appeared around four times) was totally not cool. Thus ended the lesson.**


	7. Not an Ideal Holiday, Part 2

**Chuck Versus a Man called Crescent**

This is my first story arc guys so be cool…..

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but I do own the characters I create. No-one steals Crescent from me, oh no no they don't.

* * *

**Not the Ideal Holiday, Part 2**

_A groan emanates from the corner of a brightly lit room and a man with bandages strapped over the entire left side of his body sits up. He shields his eyes from the glare, unaccustomed to the brightness of the surgical lamp standing above him, but manages to make out several men standing around him, some of them in surgical gowns and some of them in suits. The 'doctors' look happy, and start to congratulate each other, but are silenced by several bullets in the back of the head. Their limp corpses are dragged out, undoubtedly to be incinerated, thinks the man._

"_Who?" He manages to croak through a dry thoat. The men in the suits smile. _

"_We are the Ring, Agent Shaw, we are on your side. You are probably wondering what has happened to you." Shaw nods, and the man continues. "After you were shot by Agent Carmichael, we were able to retrieve and heal you. You were brought here to assist us in our next venture." He gestures behind him, showing Shaw the completed Ring Intersect 2.0. "Now, Daniel, let's get a move on. The CIA won't collapse by itself, you know."_

The four stumble into the town, checking a barn for any people before entering. Daine stifles another cough, tastes blood in his mouth and spits it out discreetly, but Chuck catches sight of this and runs over. "Hey - you've been coughing for ages and that inhaler isn't helping at all now. We can slow down and wait for you to rest."

"I'm fine," mumbles Daine, and wipes the blood off his lips with his hand. "And anyways, I don't want to slow down our progress which, as it is now, is pretty small."

Casey inspects the electrical cable bundle at his feet, and after a moment's inspection he pulls out a phoneline, which he wires up to his phone and starts tapping. "Put me through to the French Embassy in Moscow," he says down the phone. "No, I don't want your premium package, just put me through – hey! Don't you dare hang up! Dammit!" He grunts and ends the call.

"Any luck?" asks Sarah, who is staring with a concerned look at Chuck. He is trying to help Daine but is just getting swatted away.

"Stupid operator is apparently more interested in trying to harass me into buying his phone service. We're going to have to find someone else to take us closer to our targets."

"Casey, who was the guy who you were trying to call?" asks Chuck. "A certain Frenchman I met a while back in a mission in Marseille. Former cyber spook and field agent for French intelligence – now retired and working for himself, running an organisation which trades around intel." "Well," says a slightly tired sounding Sarah, "if we're going to be here for a while, let's set up temporary camp. I'll take-" She yawns. "first-" Another yawn. "watch."

"Don't be stupid, Walker," grunts Casey. "You need some rest. Don't need you falling asleep and getting us all killed. I'll take first watch." Sarah starts to object, but is stopped by another yawn and gives in, letting Chuck drag her off to a comfortable looking sleeping bag. She gets to her own one and Chuck looks at her with his puppy dog eyes.

"Oh, all right," whispers she in her boyfriend's ear, "You win. Fortunately, I did come prepared." With that, she slides out of the sleeping bag and pulls out a double-person one. The couple wriggle into it and snuggle up to one another.

Casey gives a grunt of slight disgust and pulls over a chair, which he sits on, and starts to hum the American national anthem. He looks at Daine, who is still awake and wheezing, and walks over to him. "You okay, Reynolds?"

"Give me a moment." The man wheezes for a little longer and then stops. "I'm okay now. What's up?"

"Your situation isn't getting better and you're becoming a liability." Casey says. Daine smiles crookedly. "I know that."

"I can arrange for you to sit this one out here, get you picked up after we're finished."

Daine replies, "I'm well aware that I'm slowing down the whole team, maybe could even compromise the mission. But without one of its members, this team will never succeed." The Colonel gives out a 'I hope you're thinking straight' grunt and sits back down on his chair, starting to hum again when suddenly the phone rings. The both of them stare at it, and Casey picks it up slowly and answers. "Who is this?" he asks.

"Well, Colonel," replies a lightly accented voice. "Who do you think could trace your call to a barn in the middle of a snowy Siberian wasteland?"

"You devil. You have no idea how gut-wrenching it's been stuck here with my new team," grunts Casey. "I need to call in a favour."

"I don't think that time where helping you as of the current situation may be a good idea." A pause. "But to hell with it - it's been too long without excitement in my life. What can this humble Frenchman do for you today?"

The Colonel's lips quirk, smiling for a nanosecond, before reverting back to an impassive mask. "I need a CIA-standard reconnaissance van with all the usual observational equipment. I also need some heavy duty explosives and firearms – can you provide all that?"

"Of course, Mr. Casey – it'll be there very shortly. Bonne chance, mon ami – et faites attention." The line went dead.

* * *

_Chuck opens his eyes, finding himself lying down on the ground in his Burbank apartment. He tries to get up but, his legs weak for some unknown reason, only manages to prop himself against the sofa. He peers out of a window and notices it is raining and that there are two people standing outside – one of them is holding a gun to the other person's back._

"_Hey!" shouts Chuck. "Put down the gun and let that person go!" He pulls himself up, leaning against the sofa arm for support and struggles over to the door, which he opens. Limping outside, he is suddenly blinded by a bright light shining on the two strangers, and when he is able to see again, he recognises the twisted face of Daniel Shaw and a sobbing Sarah Walker._

"_Hello, Chuck," says the renegade CIA agent with a sadistic smile on his face. He twists Sarah's arm harder and she gives off an involuntary gasp of pain. "Surprised to see me?"_

_Chuck stares back in disbelief as he struggles to find the right words. "I shot you on the bridge – you fell into the river – how?"_

"_Use your brain, Chuck," he replies. "Use the Intersect." And then, placing the barrel of the gun to Sarah's temple, he gives off a short laugh. "You're so weak. Always going on about protecting the ones you love but you can't even save this pathetic little CIA doll." _

_Before Chuck can do anything, Shaw pulls the trigger and the light in the blonde CIA agent's eyes goes out in an instant. Dropping Sarah's lifeless body to the ground, he points the gun at Chuck. "Goodbye." The last thing Chuck feels is a sharp excruciating pain in his chest and then everything goes black._

Sarah is woken up from a considerably restful sleep by her boyfriend and she turns around to see what the problem is, finding him in convulsions and in a cold sweat. Her training immediately kicks in, and she immediately gets out of the sleeping bag, dragging Chuck out with her.

"Casey!" she shouts, getting the attention of the burly NSA agent who runs over. They rest Chuck's head on a makeshift pillow and Sarah tries to wake him. "Chuck! I need you to wake up now!" She continues in a lower voice, whispering in his ear. "Please. I need you."

Slowly, her boyfriend's body stops jerking around and his breathing returns to normal. Sarah sighs in relief, cradling his head in her lap and stroking his brown curls out of his eyes and back into their usual position. She looks down hopefully at Chuck, whose eyelids flutter open.

"Hello, beautiful," he says sleepily. "Looks like an angel decided to come down from heaven for my wake-up call." This causes Sarah to blush slightly and the Colonel to grunt in mock (hopefully) disgust, walking away and muttering to himself what sounded like "moron and his stupid false alarms." Chuck remains lying down, until the memories of his dream crash back into his consciousness, and he snaps up to a sitting position, somewhat startling his girlfriend.

"Sarah, are you all right?" he asks.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" she replies, staring at Chuck oddly. "Anyways, I should be asking you that question - you were convulsing in your sleep just now. You have no idea how worried I was."

"Hey, I'm okay – just a bad dream, that's all." He pulls her into a tight embrace, wrapping his arms protectively around her. She rests her head against his chest, hearing the reassuring rhythm of his heartbeat, and sighs in contentment.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, Charles Irving Bartowski."

* * *

The quiet was shattered by the loud rumble of trucks rolling by and stopping. The four of them immediately took positions behind crates, looking over them at the front and back entrance. The door creaks as it is pushed open, and a middle-aged, around fifty or so, gentleman wearing a dapper, probably tailored, strolls in, with a silver suitcase in hand. His features are well-defined – he has a strong jawline and his brown hair is combed back. A pair of circle rimmed glasses perch on his nose.

"Mr. Casey," says the man in a loud voice. "You can come out now – your ride has arrived."

Chuck looks over to Casey and mouths, "_Do you know this guy?"_ Casey nods, getting up and climbing over the crate. He walks over to the man and shakes his hand.

"Good to see you again, Nicolas," says Casey. "I'd like you to meet the rest of my team. Walker! Carmichael! Reynolds! Get over here!" the Colonel shouts over his shoulder.

At the sound of Casey's voice, the other three members of Team Bartowski clamber out from behind their hiding place and gather around the man, who smiles and nods his head in greeting.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet your team, Mr. Casey. I've heard much about them, especially Mr. Carmichael here. We have you to thank for taking down Fulcrum and the Ring, although I expect the latter is why you are here."

"You know about our mission?" inquires Chuck.

Nicolas nods. "Such things don't get past me – I'm called the Eye in the Sky for a reason." Placing the suitcase on a crate and flicking it open, he pulls out a thick file, from which he takes out a photo of the four men. "These are the men you are looking for, no?" Continuing, he flicks through the file and takes out a small wad of paper held together by a paper clip. "I thought I might do some snooping on your behalf, and after a while on their servers, I came up with the usual things – floor plan for the complex they're staying in, rosters for the armed guard there, etcetera. But I also found something extremely sensitive in nature." He hesitates, and looks at each member of the team very slowly. "What security clearance do you have?" he asks.

"Level Six," Chuck replies.

"Then that's good enough. What I am about to tell you must not ever be traced back to me, understand? It's too dangerous," says Nicolas, producing a small domed circular object from the suitcase, pressing a button on the side of it and placing it on the ground. He then takes out a keypad, which he presses a code into. "I received this intel about a week ago from a mole in the Ring, and it appears that they have managed to construct an extremely powerful computer called the Intersect." He steps back as it projects a holographic image of the Ring Intersect 2.0. "Where it is, I don't know, but I do know one thing – these people must not be allowed to have this technology."

Team Bartowski stand in shock as the image of the Intersect room rotates around in the air. Casey and Sarah swear under their breath. The silence is then broken by Daine, who coughs loudly, and Nicolas snaps back into attention.

"Anyways, let's get going. If we go at full speed, we'll get there by nightfall."

"Who said you were coming with us, Nicolas?"

"I'm not going to stand idly by and let you have all the fun, old friend. It's been a long time, but I know I can still beat a trained marine at target practice."

* * *

Several hours later, a black non-descript van pulls up on the side of a woodland and the doors slide open. Three figures, all dressed in black, step out and run for cover behind the trees, narrowly avoiding a searchlight.

"Eagle Nest, this is Hatchling Alpha, we're proceeding into the woods, five hundred metres to entrance," whispers Casey, keeping low and running towards what appears to be an armor plated outpost.

"Hatchling Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, radio silence from now until outpost is secure. Report when coast is clear. Over," replies Sarah. She mentally sighs, wondering why she is stuck inside the van instead of outside infiltrating the base, and groans quietly in boredom.

"Hey, it's not that bad, at least you won't get shot," says Daine nonchalantly. "As far as I'm concerned, this is Beckman's way of trying to get me killed without having to do it herself – good thing I'm in the van then."

Sarah ignores him and they sit in silence until the radio bleeps. "Hatchling Alpha to Eagle Nest. We've captured the outpost – get over here."

Daine takes of the brakes and presses the pedal gently, easing the van through the trees and stopping it again beside the outpost. He slides the doors open and heads around to the boot, from which he pulls out two large suitcases. Sarah follows him also carrying equipment, which they hand to Casey, Nicolas and Chuck.

"Thanks, honey," says Chuck and gives his girlfriend a small peck on the lips. She smiles and hugs him tightly.

"You be careful, dammit. Promise me you won't do anything overly stupid."

"I'll do my best," he responds with a grin on his face. He turns to Daine. "Hey, Daine, look after her for me, okay? Anything happens to her and I'll hold you responsible."

"Don't worry, Chuck – now get out there and complete the mission and we can all go home without a scratch."

The three armor clad agents slip off in the darkness, leaving the blonde CIA agent and the assassin-turned asset by themselves.

* * *

**Damn, it's been just over two months since I updated and so here's Chapter Seven. Not really much happens in here, you'll have to wait for Chapter Eight – Not an Ideal Holiday, Part 3.**

**BTW Chuck's dream is a result of the Intersect starting to overload, how it does eventually become more serious will be revealed next time.**


	8. Not an Ideal Holiday, Part 3

**Chuck Versus a Man called Crescent**

This is my first story arc guys so be cool…..

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but I do own the characters I create. No-one steals Crescent from me, oh no no they don't.

* * *

**Not an Ideal Holiday, Part 3**

Yawning, Daine leans back on his chair and looks over at his CIA agent/companion, who notices him staring and ignores him. He smirks and starts humming softly. A air of boredom hangs in the van.

"You know, you are a very beautiful woman," he starts, and Sarah rolls her eyes. She shoots him an angry glare, which he seems to have missed, as he continues to talk. "I'm not trying to hit on you or anything, but I'm curious as to why you – Langston Graham's wildcard enforcer – decided to shack up with a dime-a-dozen computer geek?"

The blonde CIA agent flares up immediately after the quite obvious insult. "What do you think you have that he hasn't?" she retorts. "If anything, he's a better person than you are – he's kind, caring and he makes me smile and feel good about myself even after all the horrible things I've done in my life."

She continues. "You know what – I know what you remind me of. Just another dime-a-dozen spy – no feelings, no emotions, no thoughts of your own – you just do what you're told without thinking. Let me tell you something – Chuck helped me become more, and even though my life isn't perfect, I can still feel normal after a day's work."

The asset gives off a short laugh. "So he makes you feel normal, eh? Just like everybody else in the world – living out their dreams happily without a care about the horrors that are right round the corner. The world isn't that kind of place, woman, and it isn't very forgiving either."

He stifles a cough with his hand and finds it specked with drops of blood. Reaching for the inhaler, he takes a breath of it. The two ignore each other but sparks are still flying between the both of them. All of a sudden, Daine sits up straight as a bolt.

"Do you hear that?" he says in a low voice. The whooshing noise gets considerably louder. "Shit!" he swears and, kicking open the van door, throws his companion out first before running out himself. Behind them, a streak of flame hits the van and it explodes in a ball of fire, throwing the two off their feet.

* * *

"What the hell was that?" whispers Chuck to his team mates whilst tapping on a door panel.

"Whatever it was, it didn't sound good," replies Casey. "We'd better get this done quickly – get the damn door open, Bartowski!"

"Okay, okay, just chill, almost there," snaps back the nerd. The door slides open and he stands up looking triumphant. "Voila! Who's your daddy?" The Colonel grunts and brushes past him, followed by the Frenchman. Rolling his eyes, he follows them in.

The hallway is decorated stylishly with ornate furnishings and bright lights. Portraits of long-dead Russian tsars hang from the walls.

Nicolas whistles. "Wouldn't I like to get my hands on some of these works of art," he whispers. "Most of these are very rare and expensive – and stolen, I'm guessing. Anyways, if we want to get them, we're going to have to hurry. They'll be leaving their meeting soon, and we'll lose the chance to get all of them at the same time."

The three spies head down the corridor and take a right turn, moving stealthily and quickly. Casey holds up his left hand and slows to a halt by a junction with another corridor, flattening himself against the wall. A guard walks around the corner and the Colonel grabs him around the throat and squeezes tightly on the neck until he stops writhing.

"Was that really necessary, Casey?" mouths Chuck with anger. "He didn't even see us!"

"Just because he didn't see us just now, doesn't mean he isn't going to see us later when we're trying to get outta here. Now zip it." Casey pulls off a vent cover and shoves the body into the duct after removing his keycard and radio. Replacing the cover, they continue.

"Was he like this back when you worked with him in Marseille?" asks Chuck quietly.

The Frenchman chuckles and replies, "If he was like how he was back in France, there'd be a trail of dead bodies behind us instead of just the one. If anything, he's gotten softer –don't worry, I know Casey – he won't overdo it."

Reaching thick wooden double doors, they stop. The Colonel checks his rifle and Nicolas flicks open a suit case, revealing a M32 MGL grenade launcher, which he pulls out and loads with HE rounds. He nods at Casey, who pulls the pin out a flashbang and rolls the grenade through a small opening of the doors. Kicking the doors open after the explosion, Casey readies himself, only to find an empty room.

"What the.." he says as the others follow him in. Seeing a card lying on the table, he picks it up and reads it. "Sorry, but your targets are in a different castle," he says. "Crap, they know we're here, we walked right into a trap! Eagle Nest, this is Hatchling Alpha! Get out of here, they know we're here!" Hearing no response, he swears again and the doors slam shut. Gas slowly fills the room and they desperately look for a way out, but collapse onto the floor, unconscious.

* * *

Devon cycles furiously away on his cycling machine as his wife, the indomitable Eleanor Faye Bartowski, paces around their apartment, talking animatedly to herself and looking very, _very_ angry.

"I saw Chuck. Shooting a gun. Chuck. Gun. Chuck. Gun." She plops herself down on the sofa, repeating the words like a mantra whilst wringing her hands. She does this for a while longer and then swivels around, looking at her husband with an annoyed expression.

"How can you possibly be working out in this current situation? Aren't you worried at all about what Chuck's up to?" After saying this, Ellie jumps back on her feet and rushes over to Devon and stares at him suspiciously. "If you're not freaking out right now that means you know something – am I right?"

Devon looks nervously at her as she advances closer and closer. "Look, babe, I don't know what Chuck's doing, but I'm sure he has a good explanation for all this." He flashes her a smile, which fades immediately under Ellie's fiery stare.

"Don't give me that '_he has a good explanation for this_' talk – you know something I want to know and you're going to tell me **right now**," she retorts, jabbing his chest with her finger. "Spill the beans, mister."

Her husband pauses and starts to speak, but the words catch in his throat and he mouths wordlessly at a less-than-pleased-and-positively-enraged Ellie. She continues jabbing him, causing him to run. They end up chasing each other around the apartment until she manages to corner him.

Devon sighs loudly. "I can't tell you, honey. I want to, but I just – I can't."

Ellie huffs and, grabbing a set of keys from a basket, walks out determinedly to Chuck's apartment. She rings the bell and knocks on the door. "Chuck! We need to talk, now!" Hearing no response, she slides one of the keys on the key ring into the lock and opens the door slowly. Her husband starts to protest but shuts up after she glares daggers at him.

Stepping quietly into the apartment, the ever-vigilant sister notices that her brother's apartment had been untouched since the day before. Walking into his room, Ellie almost sighs in relief, seeing its normal nerdish appearance, filled with game consoles and comics, but then starts searching around.

"Sweetie, I think this may not be the best idea to invade Chuck's privacy," says Devon, trying to stop his wife before she discovers anything spy-related. "You know, I heard from John that - " A shriek interrupts him and he rushes in, seeing Ellie distancing herself from a shoebox lying on the bed. He looks into it and finds a silver pistol and several passports.

"What the hell, Devon! Why does Chuck – **our Chuck** – the Chuck who screams at the sight of guns – have a gun in a shoebox? And not to mention all those fake passports and visas – what is he, a criminal?"

"Calm down, Ellie, please calm down," says Devon but he is completely ignored by his wife, who takes out her phone and punches in a phone number. She groans when she hears the call go into voicemail and hangs up. She then continues looking around the room with Devon trying to stop her until they are interrupted by the appearance of a certain bearded man.

"He…Hello?" says Morgan nervously. "What are you guys doing in Chuck's room?" He immediately spots the shoebox on the bed and, seeing Ellie looking extremely mad, puts two and two together. "Holy sh- cow – um, ah, um….." He tries to leave but she drags him back in.

"You are staying **right here**, Morgan Guillermo Grimes, and you'd better start talking – you too, Devon. Why are you hiding things from me?" she asks, looking from her husband to her brother's best friend.

The two men look at each other and after walking into a corner, start whispering to each other. "Do we tell her about Chuck, Morgan? I mean, it's not like we can come up with any cover story for this, can we?"

Morgan looks over his shoulder and sees Ellie tapping her foot impatiently. He gulps. "Are you sure, Awesome? I don't know about you, but I still want to live until I'm at least thirty – they're so many things I still want to do, like getting a girlfriend, going on a mission, cl-"

Devon interrupts him and faces his wife. "Babe, I'm going to tell you everything I know, but you have to promise me that you won't freak out. I need you to be awesome."

The elder Bartowski pinches the bridge of her nose and groans. "Okay, I promise."

He hesitates, but then says, "Chuck is a spy, honey."

* * *

Gradually regaining consciousness, the blonde CIA agent tries to get up but immediately lies back down, feeling searing pain exploding out from her right shoulder. She looks at it and sees a sizeable shard of metal lodged there. She groans loudly and a figure stumbles over to her.

"God damn it," he mumbles and crouches down, inspecting her wound. "That doesn't look too good – we need to get that piece of metal outta you and stop the bleeding." Ripping off the lower part of his trouser leg, he loops it around her shoulder.

"You ready?" he asks and Sarah nods, preparing herself. Daine takes hold on the shard and slowly pulls it out, causing her to gasp in pain. He immediately tightens the makeshift bandage and helps her up, but she loses balance and trips. The asset immediately leaps forward and catches her.

"I'm fine – don't need your help," she slurs and Daine smirks. "Look. I know we don't exactly get along but we don't have time for personal differences to get in the way. Let's get out of here before they find us." He picks her up and carries her in front of him, walking quickly for the cover of the woods.

"Wha, What about Chuck, Casey and Nicolas?" she asks, rasping slightly because of a dry throat. "We can't just leave them in there." Sarah looks over at the complex and turns a pleading gaze at him. He responds with a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry, Sarah, they'll have to fend for themselves for a bit. You and I aren't exactly fighting fit right now – if we go in and try to save them, we'll just get ourselves killed. We need to hide and hope they can get out by themselves." The injured woman in his hands starts to resist, but he pinches a nerve in her neck and she goes limp. "Sorry about that," he says as he walks further into the woods.

Consciousness floods his mind and Chuck finds himself stripped down to only his shirt and trousers and hanging by his wrists with a very wet face. The man in front of him puts down the now empty bucket and smiles.

"Hello, Mr. Carmichael – it's good to finally meet you. The famous human Intersect."

"What are you talking about? I'm not the-" Chuck screams and twists in pain as electricity courses through his body. The man pulls the taser away and holds it in front of the nerd's face.

"Why try to hide it? We already know you downloaded the Intersect 2.0, so why don't make this easier on yourself and just co-operate with us. We want the Intersect – you want to stay alive – if you help us, we'll both get what we want. Understand?"

Chuck flashes as he catches sight of a burn mark going from the man's jawbone down his neck. _Paul Constantin_, he thinks, _ex-Major of the Russian Special Forces, dishonourably discharged for insubordination, recruited by the Ring in August 2007._

Looking Constantin in the eye, Chuck says firmly, "Where are my friends? If you've hurt them, I'll personally make sure you'll never see the light of day again." This causes the other man to burst out laughing. When the laughter subsides, Constantin makes a tutting sound and shakes his head in mock disappointment.

"You are one funny guy, Mr. Carmichael." He pauses and brings the taser to Chuck's chest, sending the curly-haired spy to convulse in pain. "Colonel Casey and Mr. Barreau are currently incapacitated but otherwise uninjured. Your person in the van, however – they weren't so lucky. Charred to a crisp. Nothing left." At that moment Chuck's heart shatters and just as he flashes on some martial arts, the disgraced Russian major tasers him again. The nerd lets out another heartrending scream and goes limp, his eyelids flickering madly.

Constantin sighs in disappointment and signals a guard standing in the darkness, who comes forward and takes the unconscious Chuck back to a cell. Hearing his phone ring, the torturer massages his forehead and answers the call.

"Yes, we have captured Carmichael, Casey and Barreau." There is a short pause as the voice over the phone gives a reply. "Yes, the girl was killed in an explosion. She won't be bothering anyone now. Yes, of course. The Intersect will be ours in no time, I assure you. Okay. Goodbye, Mr. Shaw."

* * *

**OMG the team has been captured, what will happen now? Of course, you'll have to stay tuned for the rest of the story. Also, is everyone just as excited as I am about the upcoming episode of Chuck? Can't wait!**

**BTW please review, give comments – good or bad, I don't mind, as long as they are constructive.**


	9. Beginning of the End

**Chuck Versus a Man called Crescent**

This is my first story arc guys so be cool…..

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but I do own the characters I create. No-one steals Crescent from me, oh no no they don't.

* * *

**Beginning of the End**

When the door swings open, Casey immediately opens his eyes, seeing the guard dragging Chuck into the small cramped cell and dumping him on the floor. He rushes to the nerd's side and notices his flickering eyelids and twitching body.

"What the hell did you do to him?" growls the Colonel angrily, but gets no reply from the guard, who leaves and slams the door closed behind him. The lock audibly clicks back into place. "Wake up, moron!" shouts Casey, shaking Chuck by his shoulders.

The twitching begins to subside along with the problem with his eyes and Chuck starts to regain consciousness. His eyesight is foggy and he sees a faint outline of a man who grunts in relief. "Casey?" he asks groggily.

"What did they do to you?" asks Casey. "You looked like you were having a fit."

Concentrating, Chuck recalls a fuzzy image of a man bringing a taser to his chest. "I'm not sure, I was flashing, then he tasered me. That's the last thing I remember."

The Colonel, looking concerned, keeps his eyes trained on the man in front of him. "Did he say anything about Walker and Reynolds?"

"No, I don't thi - " He suddenly remembers everything – the Russian ex-major, the taser and then finally the heartbreak. Tears rush to his eyes and he starts to moan.

"No, no, no, it can't be, it can't, it just can't!" screams Chuck, shocking Casey a little and bringing the unconscious Frenchman back into reality. He breaks down in tears and Casey tries to bring him back into sensibility.

"Look at me, Bartowski!" demands Casey. "Pull yourself together and tell me what that guy said to you." He pulls Chuck up on his feet and seats him on the side of the bed. Nicolas also rushes over and helps Casey calm the hysterical agent. Tears are still streaming down the side of his face.

"Casey, it's – it's – it's Sarah. She's dead," says Chuck. "They blew up the van. I shouldn't have left her there – we should have brought her along, it's all my fault - "

He is interrupted by Nicolas, who slaps him in the face, not hard enough to hurt him, but enough to bring him out of his rambling.

"Listen to me, Bartowski or Carmichael, whatever your name is, listen to me!" says the Frenchman forcefully. "You can mope and wallow in self-pity later, but you need to focus. Even if she didn't make it, Sarah would have wanted you to get out of here." Seeing Chuck calm down a little, he continues. "Who was your interrogator?"

"His name is Paul Constantin, ex-Russian special forces," recites the shaking man. "He got dishonourably discharged back in 2007 and has been working on the Ring's payroll since then."

Casey's face twitches as he hears Constantin's name. His twitch develops into a look of disgust. "He's an amateur – nothing but a hired gun. Relies on crude methods for information extraction and his kills are nothing but sloppy. I'm not surprised he even got recruited by the commies."

"Casey," murmurs Chuck, "you do know the Soviet Union got disbanded a long time ago, right?"

"Whatever you say, Bartowski, whatever you say."

* * *

Her eyelids flicker open, registering a very gloomy barn around her. She can still feel a dull ache in her shoulder and her entire right arm is numb. She tries sitting up, but a person, rising from a sitting position, gently pushes her back into a propped up position against a wheel of hay.

"Try not to move so much," says her companion softly. "You've stopped bleeding now but you have lost quite a lot of blood. I had to give you a transfusion around two hours ago."

Sarah groans and coughs, feeling her dry throat aching, longing for water, and as if answering her prayers, an earthen mug is raised to her lips and she greedily drinks all the soothing liquid. Daine gives her a light smile.

"How long have I been unconscious for?" she asks quietly.

"Almost a half a day. And before you ask, we're only one or two miles east of the compound."

"Chuck," she whispers under her breath. She tries to get up and is once again kept down by Daine, who shakes his head slightly. Raising her voice to the loudest she can manage, she pleads, "Please. We have to rescue them. We have to rescue Chuck."

"No," replied the man gently but firmly. "You might not remember, so I'll say it again. If we try to go back there, we'll get ourselves killed. Besides, we don't even know whether they're still alive or not."

"They are alive, dammit!" she says forcefully. "They have to be, they can't have just been killed! You can't just sit here and do nothing!" When she gets no response, her anger flares up and she screams in frustration. Daine looks right back at her, locking his eyes on hers, and she sees a similar fire burning in them.

"Have you lost your senses? We are in no condition to do anything right now! We'll be commiting suicide by running in there!" He pauses to catch his breath. "You're letting your own personal feelings get mixed up with the mission and there will be more causualties if you don't get a grip on yourself."

The blonde CIA agent is speechless after her companion's outburst. Her own agent instincts are telling her that he is right, but her feelings were saying the opposite. She remembers her boyfriend's face lighting up everytime he sees her, all the passionate moments they had together and the walls so cleverly constructed around her heart start to crumble. Her eyes start to water and she turns away to hide her tears.

There is a long pause of silence punctuated by Sarah's muffled sobs and Daine sighs heavily. He sits himself down by her and nudges her gently with his elbow, causing her to turn back to face him. His hand runs through his singed chestnut hair as he gives off another sigh.

"Look," he says quietly. "We're both tired out and, to be frank, I don't want to get into an argument. Just rest for now, and after I get some food for us to eat, we'll consider our options and go from there. Okay?"

Sarah nods and her companion flashes her a brief smile before getting up and heading out of the barn. Then, for the first time in a long while, she lets out all her feelings and cries out loud for the man she left behind.

* * *

"I still can't believe my little brother – Chuck – the leader of the Nerd Herd – is a professional spy. I seriously thought I knew him – I raised him on my own, for crying out loud! And Sarah - is she even actually dating my brother or is it all just an act? For crying out loud, she's been playing with him for the last three years and making him so miserable! I can't believe it! And our neighbour John Casey – seriously? He has this entire place under surveillance?"

The bearded man bangs his head against the table for the umpteenth time in the last twenty four hours, trying to block out the incessant ranting that had been the angry older Bartowski's method with dealing with stress – that along with washing up everything in the apartment, even the dishes that were already clean. She had also insisted that her husband and Morgan continue to stay awake for as long as it took for her to sort it all out in her head. Morgan is getting a distinct feeling that he needs something stronger than grape soda in order to make that happen, and even Devon is looking worse for wear after his wife's continued interrogation.

"Look, honey," says Devon tiredly. "I know this is a very stressful time for you, but you really need to get some rest. You've been up for nearly a day now."

His wife, however, completely ignores him and continues with her ranting, causing him to slump back onto the couch, defeated. Morgan drags himself next to him and nudges him in the shoulder but gets no response.

"Devon. Hey, Devon!" he hisses into the older man's ear. "Wake up!" Still no response. Morgan sighs and yanks hard on Devon's earlobe, making him shoot straight up with a yelp of pain.

"What was that for?" he asks angrily.

"What do you think? Your super-scary wife actually threatened us with a knife and forced us to stay awake! It may have been a blunt butterknife, but I'm pretty sure they can do some serious damage." Pausing, he glugs down the rest of his soda and then blinks slowly as he feels the sugar and caffeine start to kick in. He continues, "How do you think she's going to react when she sees you catching some z's on the couch?" Keeping his eye on at Ellie, he continues. "We need a plan, and it most definitely has to be awesome if we want to get out of here."

Devon groans and picks himself up, walking to Ellie and standing in front of her. He determinedly clears his throat and speaks.

"Ellie, honey, **we** need to talk with each other on this. You talking to yourself isn't going to sort out any problems. Now, let's sit on the couch and get this situation ironed out, okay?"

Ellie shoots a glance at the couch and gives in, plonking herself down on it. Her husband shoots a thumbs up at Morgan, who merely shakes his head. Undeterred, he holds her hands and says, "Chuck is the best guy I know. He's kind, caring and would do anything to keep other people safe. That's his nature – and it's also why he took that job. He just wants to help others."

Taking a deep breath, Ellie slowly nods. "I suppose I can understand that. But he's my little brother – I'm supposed to look after him, I promised our father that I would. And now he's out there, throwing himself at danger and hoping to come out alive at end of it – I'm really worried that he won't come back."

Morgan pipes in, "Don't worry Ellie, he'll come back. He's got a kickass ninja girl for a girlfriend and Casey, well let's just say there's no way anyone can get past him. Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention, that new room mate – he's an international assassin."

Ellie's eyes widen and her eyebrows shoot up. "What?"

Morgan starts hitting his head against the table again. Boy, he just dug himself into another deep metaphorical hole.

* * *

It feels like an eternity before a quiet sound of silent footsteps breaks the silence and immediately Sarah's head snaps up, scanning the darkness for the intruder. She instinctively reaches down for her knives but stops when she recognises the asset walking in. He places two rabbits on the ground and, after gathering some timber and tinder in a heap, strikes two rocks together. The sparks fly out and soon enough, a fire starts crackling and he sighs as a flashback washes over him.

_A priest is speaking a final eulogy and some prayers as a wooden coffin is lowered into the ground by some funeral caretakers. After doing so, they start to shovel the dirt into the grave and catch sight of the lone person sitting in the front row surrounded by empty chairs, his face impassive and showing no emotion._

_The man gets up and produces a single red rose and places it by the tombstone and remaining bent over, he places a small velvet-covered box down as well after pressing it to his lips briefly. Standing up again, he murmurs a word of thanks to the priest and walks away briskly and purposefully._

_Later in the evening a huge explosion rips through an downtown office block and the same man staggers out through the fire exit, wheezing and coughing. With one blow he smashes through a car window and unlocks the door, slipping inside and ducking down, narrowly avoiding being seen by a cop rushing to the seen. He reaches under the steering wheel and rips off the upholstery, revealing a mass of wires. After mere seconds, the engine kicks into life and the car cruises out slowly, disappearing without a trace into the traffic._

_Getting off the highway, the car pulls over and its occupant slams his hands against the steering wheel, swearing loudly. He coughs out blood and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. Pulling out a slightly singed and scuffed photo from his pocket, he presses it against his forehead and whispers, "I'm sorry."_

The blonde CIA agent looks at her companion and clears her throat loudly, getting his attention. She looks hopefully and questioningly at him and he returns this with a neutral unreadable expression.

"Would you do anything to save him?" Daine asks quietly. "Even if it meant that you would never see him again. Even if it meant that you would have to give your life up so that he could walk free."

She answers, without hesistation, "Yes. He means everything to me." Seeing no change in Daine's expression, she continues with a slightly pleading tone, "We need to get Chuck and the others back. **I** need to get Chuck back. Please."

The asset remains silent for a moment and then smiles briefly. "You'd better not make me regret doing this, Walker, but only if you stay here." Sarah nods. Daine "Now let's get these cooked quickly. You'll have to wait until I get the others back for another meal." He strings up the two rabbits on sticks and places them just above the flames, whistling a tune.

"Can I ask you something?" Sarah asks. Daine hesitates, but then gestures almost imperceptibly with his hand for her to continue. She continues, "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm doing this for the team," he replies immediately. Feeling her gaze still resting on him, he sighs and says, "I'm doing this because I know exactly how you're going to end up without him. You'll turn into me." Turning his back on her, he disappears back into the darkness and waves a pack of knives at her. "Thanks for these."

* * *

"Now, Mr. Carmichael, we all know the pain will stop once you tell us what you saw in your flash just now." The Russian ex-Major mercilessly electrocutes his prisoner, eliciting a cry of pain. He does so again and again, causing Chuck to scream out in agony.

"I'll- I'll- I'll tell you nothing," he manages to say, trying to push away the stinging feeling in his body. "I won't talk."

Circling his captive, Constantin chuckles and punches him in the stomach, winding him. "Everybody talks, Carmichael," he laughs, "and I can assure you that I will break you." He catches Chuck in the jaw with a right hook and a tooth breaks off from the bone.

Chuck's face contorts with pain and tries to draw his mind away from the pain. He pictures himself back in his apartment, lying on his bed, as his beautiful girlfriend snuggles herself against him. He smiles inwardly at the image before being brought back into reality with a baseball bat smashing into his right kneecap. He yells out and swears coarsely.

The Russian sighs and gestures a guard to take the delirious CIA agent back to his cell and pulls out his phone, dialling a number.

"Mr. Shaw," he says hurriedly, "please allow me to explain, we've nearly cracked him, the Intersect will be – " He is cut off by Shaw's reply and his expression turns sour. "As you keep reminding me." A pause. "Yes sir." Disconnecting, he kicks the chair which Chuck was tied to and walks off angrily. "Screw him – I'm doing this my way."

Back in the cell, Casey paces back and forth until the door opens and Chuck is thrown back inside, landing in a heap on the floor. Casey checks for a pulse and almost sighs in relief when he feels the reassuring throb in the artery. Looking at him more closely, the Colonel cringes slightly. _Shit_, he thinks, _if this keeps going on Bartowski going to break or die, and seeing the amount of damage that's already been dealt I think he probably do the latter. I'm surprised he's even managed to hold on this long_.

Hearing a gurgling sound coming from the man lying prone on the ground, Casey props him up against his knee and hits him lightly on the back, causing him to cough out a large amount of bloody mucus and a tooth.

"Come on, numb nut, get it all outta your throat or you're gonna start choking."

"Casey," Chuck replies weakly, "I don't know whether I can hold on any longer. It just hurts too much." He tries to get up but falls on his side, yelping as he feels pain exploding from his busted kneecap. Sighing, Casey pulls him upright and slaps the dozing off agent lightly.

"Hey, stay awake," orders the Colonel. "Dying in your sleep will make you a complete and utter moron."

A pause. "You know," Chuck whispers, "I don't really mind if I do. You don't seriously think we're going to get out of this place alive, do you?" He looks sadly at his battered body and groans.

* * *

Heading down the corridor, he steps into the first room on the left, where several scientists are gathered around their computer, inputting commands furiously. One of them is sitting at a workbench, tapping on a keyboard and fiddling with a palm-sized cube.

"Have you got it yet?" asks Constantin impatiently.

The scientist makes a disapproving face and connects a wire to the cube. "If you'd give me more time to work this thing out, I'd be able to give you a definite assurance of whether we've found the right image. This Intersect cube is unlike anything we've seen before and not to mention most of its circuits are fried beyond repair."

Connecting the final wires to the cube, he brings up an image of a Rubik's Cube floating in the middle of a goldfish bowl. "From what I've gleaned off the remaining and slightly degraded files on the cube, this should be what you need. However, as much as this may be the key to unlocking the Intersect and removing the barriers of the triggers, it could easily be something else or nothing at all. Orion was known to put false images without any subliminal encoding into the Intersect program."

"Look, I don't have time for this. Print off the image, and you should pray that it's the right one." Complying reluctantly, the scientist hits the print button, and the image is churned out of the printer and swiftly swept up by the Russian. He smiles and draws his USP, shooting the man in front of him in between the eyes, and the dead man topples over onto the ground. The other scientists, shocked by this, try to escape but are gunned down by the guards outside.

Constantin smirks as he steps over the fresh corpses and walks down the hallway, heading to the holding cells. "Are we still torturing the Frenchman as well?" he asks the guard following him, who responds with a shake of the head. "Very well, I have no further need of him – kill him and dump his body in the furnace. Understand?"

Without replying, the guard snaps forward, striking the unsuspecting Ring agent in the shoulder with a small knife. He follows this up with a few kicks to the stomach, but by now, the Russian has recovered enough from the shock from being stabbed to block his assailant's attack and mount his own assault. Landing a kick on the guard's midsection, Constantin attempts a right hook which is blocked and receives a powerful roundhouse to the head, slamming him down and blurring his vision.

Just as the guard is about to finish off the defeated Russian, several armed gunmen round the corner and, catching sight of their superior struggling on the floor, open fire on the guard, who promptly dodges out of the way of the hail of bullets. He sprints towards the holding cell, tearing off his mask and revealing Daine's haphazard features.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you incompetent fools!" shouts the recovering Ring agent. "You could have caught me in the crossfire!" He gets back onto his feet and continues angrily. "Now, if you don't want your asses to be toast, I suggest you go after that maniac and kill him before he frees the American agents."

* * *

"Something's going down outside," grunts the Colonel with his ear pressed against the door. "Gunshots, screaming." Pausing a little, he suddenly flattens himself against the wall by the doorframe. "I can hear footsteps heading this way. This could be our way out. Look sharp, Bartowski."

The nerd shoots him a withering look and stands up, gingerly testing his right leg to see whether it could take his weight. "Thanks, Casey, apart from this broken kneecap I'm absolutely fine." He is replied with a dismissive grunt and, rolling his eyes, limps over to Casey's position from the door.

The footsteps stop outside the cell and they hear a clank as the person pries off the security access terminal and discards it, throwing the useless hunk of metal on the floor. Several moments pass, but the door does not open, eliciting a coarse swear word from the person outside. He hammers on the door and shouts, "Casey! Chuck! You in there?"

"Daine?" says Chuck incredulously. "You're alive?" Something clicks in his head and he lets of a massive sigh of relief. "That means Sarah's alive too, right?"

"Well, she did take some injuries from the blast, but I've managed to stabilise her for the while. She should be fine and don't worry, I've hidden her away in a hidden location not to far from here." Glancing over his shoulder, he continues. "Look, I can't get the door open and the Ring's men are getting closer. I might be able to take them out but I'm not taking the chance, so you'll have to fend for yourself for the while. I'll be back after I grab the Frenchman."

As if emphasising the need for urgency, a few bullets impact themselves right by Daine's feet and he immediately takes off, dashing down a different hallway. Constantin groans in disappointment as he sees the assassin slip away, signaling for three of his men to continue pursuing him. Fiddling with the wires hanging from the remnants of the access panel, the Russian manages to get the door open and sees an empty room. He walks in cautiously and the instant he steps into the cell, all he sees is a blur before he suddenly finds himself with an arm wrapped tight around his neck.

"Put your weapons down, boys, you wouldn't want your boss here to get hurt, would you?" asks Casey with a mischievous tone. The gunmen standing in the corridor hesitate but comply, slowly lowering their weapons to the ground and stepping back. "Good boys," smirks Casey as he edges slowly forward out of the cell and jerks his head in the direction of the door, and shortly afterwards Chuck limps out, following the Colonel closely.

"How far do you think you're going to get?" the Russian manages to choke out, "My men will be onto you before you can take one step out of this place." He is responded with a tightened grip around his neck and a grunt. "Shut up, you worthless bastard," leers Casey. "Too bad they banned water boarding back in the US. I really want to make you suffer before you die."

As they get closer and closer to the emergency stairway, Constantin gurgles loudly. "What?" says Casey, clearly annoyed. "Look," the man says, "how about I offer you something valuable and you let me go?" Chuck limps around Casey and starts frisking the Russian ex-major. "How about," says Chuck maliciously, "we take whatever 'valuable' thing you got on you and then we dump your cold dead body some deep lake in Siberia?"

He finds a folded up piece of paper in the man's front pocket and slowly unfolds it. The Colonel, recognising the outline of the image, instinctively lets go of his prisoner and tries to snatch the paper away, but Constantin elbows him in the stomach and throws him against the wall. The instant he sees the image Chuck starts to flash, his eyes rolling back, and he collapses on the floor.

_He finds himself standing in a darkened room with a computer monitor lying on its side. He walks over to it and suddenly, the monitor switches on and words start to appear._

_**HUMAN INTERSECT COMPROMISED. BEGIN SYSTEM WIPE AND TOTAL FILE ERADICATION.**_

_A number appears on the screen, glowing brightly. _

_**1% COMPLETE.**_

The Colonel snarls as he grabs the Russian and slams his head against the wall several times. Seeing the unconscious Chuck on the floor, Casey swears under his breath before dropping his battered opponent and stoops down by his partner, hoisting him over his shoulder. Looking back at the prone Constantin, he groans and picks him up too. He makes his way carefully down the stairs.

Spotting a fire exit door, Casey kicks it open and runs out into a dark hangar, where he stops in awe in front of a Mil Mi-24D. "Damn," he breathes out. "A Hind D." Shaking himself out of the stupor, he runs over to it, pulling open the hatch and getting in. After securing Chuck and the Russian down on seats, he spots two figures running towards the helicopter and recognises them as the assassin and the Frenchman.

"Good of you to join the party," grunts the Colonel. "Get in."

* * *

"_Hey, beautiful," whispers her boyfriend into her ear and trails kisses down her neck, making her moan with desire. He continues with his ministrations until she turns around and starts to kiss him passionately, only stopping to catch her breath. She smiles and leans in for a cuddle._

_The door bursts open and her boyfriend throws himself in front of her as assault rifles start firing, ripping the whole apartment into shreds. She shrieks in horror as she sees him fall to his knees, clutching at his bloody bullet-riddled chest, and pitch forward. Rushing over to him, she pulls him close and cradles him as he smiles his last smile. "I love you, Sarah," he murmurs. "Always have, always will." The light in his eyes dims and goes out, and his ragged breathing stops. Tears fall quickly from her face as she cries in silence, still grasping onto her love's body. _

Sarah wakes up with a shock and grabs the person in front of her by the throat. As the blurriness of her vision fades, she lets go, embarrassed, as she recognises Daine, who gives her a weak smile.

"I've got some good news," he says quietly, "and some bad news." Seeing her frown, he continues. "I found Chuck, Casey and Nicolas. They're all mainly okay, but Chuck – well, I'm not sure. He's been out like a light for five hours and we can't wake him up. Casey looks like he knows what's wrong, but he's not revealing anything."

"What?" the blonde CIA agent says with concern. She struggles to her feet and holds onto Daine for support as she walks out slowly from the barn, blinking as her eyes adjust themselves to the brighter surroundings. After they reach the helicopter sitting in a small empty field, Sarah leaps off the assassin and rushes into Hind D. She almost sighs in relief but when she tries to wake him, he does not respond.

"Please," she sobs into his shoulder. "I need you – I – I can't live without you. I still have so much to share with you, please…" Her voice drifts off as she lets out her emotions again, crying into his shoulder."

"Sarah," Casey says softly. "I need to tell you something." He shoots a look at Nicolas, who quickly catches onto Casey's intentions and leaves to thank the assassin for saving him. "Sarah," he repeats, "I need you to listen to me. This is extremely important."

She faces him with tears still streaming down her face, which she wipes them away hastily, and clears her throat. "What happened to him, Casey? What did they do to him?"

Hesitating, the Colonel's expression changes to an almost guilty and shameful look. He fishes out a piece of paper and shows it to her. "What I'm about to tell you is classified beyond your security clearance. Only General Beckman and the President of the USA know about this, and I only know because I was told to use it against Chuck if or when he became disillusioned with the NSA or the CIA.".

"So what is it? Some kind of weapon against the Intersect?"

"That picture you're holding is an image the NSA added into the Intersect 2.0 program as a security precaution in case the human host is captured or goes rogue. What it does is this – it wipes all the Intersect data from the host's brain and then causes a massive overload in the brain, frying the nervous system up and thus rendering the agent unable to tell his captors, allies and like any important intel."

"That's barbaric!" shouts the now crying CIA agent. She looks back at her boyfriend, whose fingers start to move, and looks hopefully at him. Slowly, his eyes open and he peers at the beautiful woman in front of him. "Sarah?" he says. "Oh my god, Sarah!" He kisses her on the lips and she slides her tongue into his mouth, leading to a hot and steamy kiss. He breaks it and pulls her closer to him, hugging her tightly.

Casey sees this and smiles, remembering his own time with his ex-fiancée, but snaps back into sensibility, coughing loudly. "I'm sorry that I have break up this moment, but we need to get back up in the air and into friendly territory where we can ditch the heli and get stateside."

"Wait a minute." Chuck's forehead creases as he frowns, trying to remember what happened. "I flashed on that image we found on Constantin – I saw a screen, it said something like human Intersect overload." He gasps. "Now that I think about, it doesn't sound good. Not at all. About as good as getting killed by a speeding Segway." He groans as a series of random pixelated images flash across his vision and a sharp pain stabs at his head, lasting only for a short while before subsiding. "What the hell is it doing to me?"

"There's no easy way to put this, Bartowski," replies Casey. "You're dying."

* * *

After several long days of air travel and a few stopovers later, team Intersect makes it back to Burbank, California, minus Nicolas, who had excused himself at their stop in Paris, bidding them farewell and good luck.

As the van they are sitting in picks up speed, the entire team is silent. Sarah is trying to maintain poker faced, trying to bottle up her emotions, whilst Chuck has his face in his hands. The Colonel looks apprehensive, something he hardly ever shows in public, and Daine is visibly concerned.

"Sarah, I'm so sorry about this," Chuck whispers in his girlfriend's ear. Hearing a muffled sob from her, he looks her deep in the eye and speaks solemnly. "Sarah Walker, I promise you this – I will not leave this world and abandon you. I will not die unless I have anything to say about it. You hear me?"

The blonde CIA agent, amazed by his courage, smiles her first smile in a very long time. "You promised. Remember that."

He responds with his own thousand megawatt smile. "Yeah, I will." He sighs contemplatively. "I'll have to contact my dad to see if he can help me. But he's not going to like it – he did spend ages getting the first Intersect out of my head."

The van pulls up on the curb outside Chuck's Echo Park apartment and the door slides open, allowing them to slide out. Casey slams it shut behind him and the driver speeds away, leaving them standing in a dark empty street.

"What are we going to tell Ellie?" asks Chuck. "She's most definitely noticed we haven't been home for over a week now."

"You've been on an extended vacation with your lady to visit her parents," grunts Casey. "It's a good cover – shouldn't be hard to sell. Now get some rest and we'll try to handle the situation with Beckman tomorrow."

As soon as the four of them start unlocking their doors, the lights in the Awesomes' apartment switch on and the elder Bartowski flounces out, striding into the middle of the courtyard and staring at all of them.

"All of you, stop where you are," she says demandingly. Chuck shoots a despairing glance at Sarah, who shakes her head. "You can't tell her," she whispers under her breath.

"I think we're pretty much busted!" whispers Chuck back.

"Chuck," breathes Ellie loudly, "I know you guys are spies."

"See, I told you we're busted."

* * *

**OH MY GOD, I WROTE A LONG CHAPTER! This chapter's cleared a whole load of the stuff episodes 17 and 18 introduced, and the stage has now been set for the finale. As always, please review by clicking the Review button. But you knew that anyways.**

**P.S. Some of this I wrote when I was semi-conscious, so it may not make much sense. Be warned.**


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